Texans Daily

No Texans Turnaround: Colts Crush Houston, 31-3

The AFC South entered NFL Week 6 bottom-heavy, three teams combining for a 2-13 record. Would the Texans or Colts climb out of the muck?

Mike Fisher

The Houston Texans and the Indianapolis Colts entered Sunday's NFL Week 6 sporting the same cruddy 1-4 record.

But as evidenced by the final score - Colts Texans - maybe the similarities end right there.

Both clubs came in three games under .500 and two games behind Tennessee Titans in the AFC South. Injuries. Mistakes. Bad luck.

But in the end, as evidenced here, the Texans in many ways would like to grow up to be able to match their Colts counterparts. And right now, they cannot.

Said Texans receiver Brandin Cooks: “Success is not a gimmick. Discipline is not a gimmick. We're an undisciplined team, all of us. We all have some accountability in that.”

The Colts scored 21 second-half points here to create a blowout powered by QB Carson Wentz' two TD passes and a monster game from running back Jonathan Taylor, who gained 145 rushing yards on 14 carries (yup, that's 10.4 yards per carry!) and scored twice. T.Y. Hilton, the traditional Texans killer, made his season debut and had four catches for 80 yards.

The Colts actually started 1-5 in 2018 and rallied to make the playoffs. And it's worth noting, at the same time, the Texans were mounting a two-season playoff run during which they built a 22-11 record.

But ... that seems like a long time ago.

Houston, under new coach David Culley, is trying to establish a foundation that starts at QB. But the foundation isn't here yet, with Deshaun Watson in his weird limbo and rookie Davis Mills replacing injured quarterback Tyrod Taylor (and Mills playing here, having to throw 43 times with two interceptions) with the club having a Mills-Taylor decision to make for the rest of the year.

Cooks recorded nine catches and Mark Ingram ran for 73 yards and Jon Greenard got two sacks. 

Said Cooks of his QB: “He makes plays. Sometimes, bad things happen. I'll continue to roll with him and believe in him.”

Houston's biggest problem? Culley's club cannot score. The Texans came in having scored just 89 points while being outscored by 52.

Those were bottom-four-worst marks in the NFL as of Sunday morning.

Houston scored three. A team can't win that way.

Houston allowed 31. A team usually can't win that way.

And the NFL-related numbers figure to sink deeper now.

Wentz, talking about his club's situation, this week said, ''You cannot get overly concerned about a record. "Whether you're 4-1, 1-4, it's always just about the next week.''

That's easy to say for a team that has legitimate confidence in a turnaround.

It's not easy to say for the Houston Texans.

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Mike Fisher
MIKE FISHER

Mike Fisher - as a newspaper beat writer and columnist and on radio and TV, where he is an Emmy winner - has covered the NFL since 1983, is the Texas-based author of two best-selling books on the NFL.