After a 4-2 start to the season, the Texans have lost seven of eight games to eliminate themselves from postseason contention.
In the locker room at Reliant Stadium on Monday, several players were asked to put a label on being 5-9.
"Unexpected," linebacker Brian Cushing said. "Definitely something we didn't want to be, and there's no question about that. I mean, 5-9 – you say 5-9 after 4-2 at the bye week, I'd say no way, absolutely not. This is a team that is very competitive and has a lot of fire and a ton of talent, with very good coaching, too.
"Just somewhere along the line, we haven't been able to close out the games that we needed to. We haven't played the kind of football that we know we're capable of doing, and we've let it slip away from us big-time."
Wide receiver Andre Johnson, who has been with the Texans since 2003, called the team's downward spiral this season "very disappointing."
"We had expectations and we didn't live up to them," he said. "That's pretty much it. When you set goals for yourself and you don't achieve them, you're pretty upset about them."
Johnson was asked if he's worried that coach Gary Kubiak will be fired if the Texans lose their final two games and finish 5-11.
"That's not my call," Johnson said. "I've said that before. I think Coach Kubiak is a great coach, and I can't really speak on that."
After a 31-17 loss to the Titans that officially knocked them out of playoff contention, Kubiak and the Texans had a lengthy team meeting on Monday afternoon to review film of the game.
"It's one of those meetings you have after a bad loss, after you don't get it done and really are outplayed and outcoached," tight end Owen Daniels said. "It was one of those situations where we had to, as a team, look at what we were doing and have everyone see it. Have everyone look at the special teams, have everyone look at the offense, have everyone look at the defense. There's accountability problems, and you can't hide in front of your teammates."
Daniels said that the Texans will "find a way to make some type of positive" out of the final two weeks of the season, starting with Sunday's road game at Denver.
"I think everyone's job is kind of (on the line)," Daniels said. "We have to save our jobs, do what we can to help (Kubiak) out. I think we want him around. I definitely do. I think most people feel the same way. We have two opportunities to go out and get wins. Hopefully, we can get that done."
