This is the bottom. Right? We don't dig any deeper than this on the way back to making this a respectable season.
As I write that sentence, I only hope that it is true. Anyone who witnessed Sunday's rout probably gets the feeling that the campaign is slipping away. This is one of the worst losses in team history. They played on their heels from the opening kickoff and ended up surrendering to Baltimore in easily the worst home performance since the 2-14 season.
Two weeks ago, we fantasized about a possible win on the road against Minnesota and Reliant Stadium rocking to the return home of a team that was about to edge out a winning record. That turned out to be a pipe dream as the Texans are three games under .500 with two road games coming up. The Texans have only won four road games in the last three seasons.
The quarterbacking has been perplexing. You would be hard pressed to find too many teams that move the ball better; yet, they can't seem to avoid costly turnovers. Was it just me or did Sage Rosenfels look like a different person? He didn't have that usual swashbuckling demeanor we've grown accustomed to. This was his first lost start at Reliant after a full week of practice with the first team.
The promise of a running game has yet to materialize. The Texans certainly have not been blessed with great health in the backfield, but they knew the history of Ahman Green and Chris Brown going in. The fact that street pick-up Ryan Moats was getting first-half carries in a must win game shows you that the offseason plans have back fired big time.
The defense was supposed to be better, but Demeco Ryans is hardly himself with injury issues. And the secondary is still under construction for a variety of reasons.
The injury bug has bitten but hardly like last year and not so much that it should derail the team like this. After all, Rosenfels has often played like a starter, Diles is not irreplacable and the others are not position-catastrophic.
The factors leading to 3-6 are plenty, but there are no excuses. The Texans have much of the season to play and need a spark or some kind of football miracle to pull them out of their funk. They're crawling uphill in an avalanche right now. They have never won in Indianapolis and have to hope the Colts play a stinker at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The talk lines are already lighting up with offseason talk. The only people who can stop it work at Reliant Stadium. It's Mission Impossible Sunday on the road.
