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DJ Bien-Aime, ESPN
HOUSTON — Executing in the second half is a point of emphasis for coach DeMeco Ryans and his Houston Texans.
While the Texans (6-3) have gone 5-2 in one-score games, their six wins have come by a total of 38 points (19th), and their 6.3 point difference per win ranks 25th. Simply put, the Texans aren’t struggling to win, but they are struggling to put teams away in the second half and win comfortably.
“I think the sentiment around our team is we’re a good football team,” Ryans said. “We just have to go out and finish football games the right way.”
Following a 21-13 loss to the New York Jets on “Thursday Night Football” in Week 9, quarterback C.J. Stroud called it a wake-up call. The Texans went into halftime with a 7-0 lead, but things got away from them in the second half.
“We got to honestly play football better, execute better, stop pointing fingers and realize that at the end of the day this is not winning football,” Stroud said.
The second-half lulls come down do several factors. In the red zone, the Texans are averaging 9.1 points (25th) compared to the 13.2 points (11th) in the first half. Offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik doesn’t believe there’s a “secret sauce” to what teams are doing to slow them down and pinpoints it to “situational football.”
“There’s not one thing a defense is doing in the second half that’s different than what they do in the first half,” Slowik said. “We’re not doing our job as well. That’s been an emphasis for us.”
The Texans’ effectiveness in the red zone between halves goes from top 10 to bottom two from one half to the next. Stroud has only four touchdowns (19th) and 902 passing yards (16th) even though he’s sixth in attempts (140) in second halves. Wide receiver Nico Collins being out the past four games on injured reserve (hamstring) hasn’t helped either, along with Stefon Diggs being ruled out for the season two days before the game with the Jets with a torn ACL in his right knee.
The defensive side of the ball has had a similar trajectory. The unit goes from allowing 8.7 points (seventh) in the first half to 13.6 (27th) in the second.
“I think one thing I have learned is that the other team makes plays too,” Stroud said. “We have to not only respond but withstand the surge — especially when we are at an away game. An away game, I feel like we are a little dead in the second half because we don’t have the crowd with us. I believe that we just have to honestly keep the swag, keep the juice on the sideline. We have to be more pumped up. Everybody has to stand up and [root for] each other and celebrate.”
Stroud pointed to the Jets’ sideline after Garrett Wilson had his jaw dropping one-handed touchdown catch. He believes that’s the kind of energy that gets a team going.
“I think that is one thing we can do better, just have better celebrations,” Stroud said.
“Squeezing our way by every game” is what Stroud wants to avoid, especially with the NFC-leading Detroit Lions (7-1) up next for “Sunday Night Football” — their second of three straight prime-time games. The Lions boast the second best record in the NFL, and they are the top scoring team in the league at 32.3 points per game.
In the words of Ryans, “For us, we’ve just got to go out and you’ve just got to finish.”
A fast start and a strong finish could be needed if the Texans want to keep pace with the visiting Lions.