It was an unacceptable performance, head coach Bill O'Brien said of Sunday's 44-26 loss in Miami.
"Nobody is more frustrated than we are in this building, coaches and players alike," O'Brien said Monday.
Less than 24 hours later, Texans coaches and player reflect on what to improve for Week 8. The team will do a lot of self-scouting before implementing the game plan against Tennessee on Sunday, according to O'Brien.
"In some ways we spend a lot of time studying the opponent, because of that philosophy and I think right now we have got to spend a lot of time over the next 36 to 48 hours, spend a lot of time on us and seeing what we're doing," O'Brien said.
O'Brien and his staff will study themselves and the team. Many players are doing the same. Duane Brown began evaluating Sunday night right after leaving Miami.
"We all have to see what we can do better as individuals and make it a collective effort," Brown said. "I think we just have to really play together more than anything this week. We know we're a better team than that. We just have to focus more, execute better. I don't think anger is the word. We just have to execute better and be more conscious of the kind of team we have."
Players discussed the slow starts and missed tackles on Monday. The Texans defense gave up four touchdowns in the first half that were 50-yard plays or longer. Those plays were mostly short passes or screen plays that extended to big plays. Poor tackling, which had its own reasons, was the main culprit, according to Johnathan Joseph.
"Over-pursuit sometimes, probably just wasn't locked in - it was a number of things, but at the end of the day, it's just tackling," Joseph. "That's the first thing you learn about football, guys running to the ball and tackling. We just missed too many tackles overall yesterday."
Still, the (2-5) Texans are just one game behind the (3-4) Indianapolis Colts in the AFC South. Houston will face its third divisional matchup on Sunday when they host the Titans.
"We're going to work very hard to put together a better game plan for the Tennessee game, and we're counting on our fans," O'Brien said. "We're back home here, divisional opponent. We have great fans here in Houston and we're looking forward to playing in front of those fans on Sunday."
The Texans will kickoff against the Titans in Week 8 at noon C.T. on CBS KHOU-11 and SportsRadio 610.
