Published on: Sep 29, 2026, 01:19:53 IST

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HOUSTON — C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans are 0-3 for a second straight year after the offense struggled in a 19-17 loss to the previously winless Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.

Despite that subpar performance and another winless start, Stroud has no doubt that Houston can turn things around just as it did last season.

“I have the utmost confidence,” he said. “You can call me crazy. I don’t really care. But we’ve been here before, and I think this is sadly something that we can learn from what we did in the past and do even better than last time. That’ll be the goal.”

Last season the Texans went 12-2 after the 0-3 start to become the first team in NFL history to reach the postseason twice after losing the first three games of a season.

Only five other teams have opened a season with three losses and advanced to the playoffs, including the 1992 Chargers who are the only ones to go 0-4 and still make the postseason.

So basically, Sunday’s game against in-state rival Dallas is a must win if the Texans hope to make their fourth straight playoff trip.

Coach DeMeco Ryans said the only way for his team to get on track is to keep working and have each other’s backs.

“I told the guys everybody is going to come at us, tell us what we should do, what I should do,” he said. “Everybody has the answers, but the only way we can get through this is us sticking together. I told the guys this week a divided house cannot stand, so we stand together through it all. I’m standing behind our guys, and we’ll keep pushing, keep punching and see our way through this.”

Stroud had 167 yards passing Sunday as Texans managed just 223 total yards against a defense that had given up an average of 514.5 yards through the first two games. Houston was playing without star receiver Nico Collins for a second straight game.

The Texans failed to convert a key fourth-and-1 early in the game instead of attempting a field goal for a second straight week. Both times on similar plays, David Montgomery’s run to the right was shut down.

“I wanted to press forward,” Ryans said. “I wanted our guys to finish that drive down with a touchdown there. I believed in the play call that we have, I believed in the guys doing it and it didn’t work our way.”

They still had a chance to win it late, but Ryans let more than 30 seconds run off the clock during Indy's go-ahead drive before calling the first of three remaining timeouts. That poor clock management left the Texans with just 11 seconds remaining when they got the ball back after the Colts took the lead.

"I’ll look at … what happened and where I can be better,” Ryans said.

The Texans got two plays off before Stroud’s desperation attempt sailed out of bounds to seal Indy’s victory.

The Texans forced three turnovers Sunday after failing to get any takeaways in their first two games. Defensive end Will Anderson forced and recovered a fumble and fellow defensive end Danielle Hunter forced a fumble that Tommy Togiai recovered. Reed Blankenship got Houston’s first interception of the season when he picked off Daniel Jones near the end zone early in the third quarter.

The offensive line has allowed 10 sacks this season and has failed to run block effectively in the past two games. The Texans had 70 yards rushing this week after running for only 60 yards last week against the Bengals.

While Anderson’s stock is always up, he had perhaps one of his best games on Sunday. Along with his forced fumble and fumble recovery, the fourth-year player had seven tackles, 2 ½ sacks, three tackles for loss and three quarterback hits. He’s the 10th player in NFL history to have at least 2 ½ sacks, three tackles for loss, three QB hits, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in a single game. He joins J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus as the only players in franchise history to have at least 2 ½ sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in a single game.

TE Dalton Schultz had just three receptions for 30 yards a week after setting career highs with 12 receptions for 140 yards.

DT Mario Edwards Jr. injured a knee Sunday. … LB Azeez Al-Shaair left the game a couple of times with a groin injury but returned both times. … Ryans said Monday that he was hopeful that Collins and RG Ed Ingram could return this week.

The Texans have forced at least three turnovers in 12 games since 2023, which is the fourth most in the NFL in that span.

The Texans will try to rev up their offense and get a second straight win in the series against the Cowboys to avoid their first 0-4 start since 2020.

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