John McClain, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, is in his 48th year of covering the NFL in Houston, including 45 seasons at the Houston Chronicle.
Sunday's game between the Texans and Jaguars at NRG Stadium features AFC South rivals who are desperate to win for different reasons after losing in Week Three by a combined score of 87-17.
The Texans, who lost 34-7 at Minnesota, need a victory to retain their division lead. The Jaguars, who lost 47-10 at Buffalo, need to win to avoid their first 0-4 start since 2021.
While his coaches and players were preparing for the visit from Jacksonville, Head Coach DeMeco Ryans was asked if there are lessons the Texans can learn from the 27-point loss to the Vikings.
"I think you learn, first and foremost, how hard it is (to win) in this league," he said. "You have to be on the details of your job every single time you step out there, especially when you're on the road. It's always harder playing on the road, so you have to be on your assignments, be where you're supposed to be and you cannot hurt yourself."
As Ryans pointed out, the Texans hurt themselves by getting penalized 11 times for 88 yards, including five on left tackle Laremy Tunsil. Quarterback C.J. Stroud had three completions for 50 yards nullified because of penalties.
"When you're going against a tough opponent (and a) tough crowd, you have to not hurt yourself but find ways to help yourself and (have) everybody playing together," Ryans said.
Nothing gnaws at coaches more than penalties, especially the pre-snap penalties that plagued the Texans' offensive line on Sunday. The team has been called for 23 penalties in the last two games against the Bears and Vikings.
The Texans had other issues besides penalties. They rushed only 14 times for 38 yards, a 2.7 average, because they fell behind so fast. Stroud was sacked four times, knocked down eight times and pressured eight more times.
"We go (back) to the drawing board, and we fix it," Ryans said. "We have to line up right, which I know we can do, and we have to protect as best we can up front. We have to play relentless. We have to swarm up front, and we have to get the guys blocked."
The Texans can use last year's Jets game as a blueprint for how to bounce back from a lopsided defeat. After losing 30-6 at MetLife Stadium and losing Stroud because of a concussion, they rebounded to beat Tennessee and won three of their last four games to finish 10-7 and earn the AFC South title.
"What I learned is that I just tell the truth," Ryans said. "I just put the film up, and I tell the truth, so guys can see what happened and why we lost the game. I show everybody that's not just one play (and) it's not just one person – it's a collection of a lot of different things that had to go bad for you to lose a game.
"It's all about each man owning up to it and fixing it the next week so the same thing doesn't happen again."
Doug Pederson, Jacksonville's head coach who won a Super Bowl with the Eagles, is telling his players the same thing, but the Jaguars are still struggling to win their first game. Last season, they were the consensus pick to win the division but finished 9-8, one game behind the Texans.
At the forefront of Jacksonville's problems is quarterback Trevor Lawrence. He hasn't won a start since the Jaguars won at NRG Stadium on Nov. 26 of last season. At that point, they were 8-3 before they collapsed.
Since that victory over the Texans in 2023, the Jaguars are 0-8 with Lawrence as their starter. They defeated Carolina late last season with C.J. Beathard replacing the injured Lawrence for a game.
The Jaguars have started this season with losses to the Dolphins, Browns and Bills. They're the only team Miami and Cleveland have defeated. They've been outscored 65-23 in their last two losses.
Ryans is less concerned with the Jaguars than he is with the Texans. He saw in victories over the Colts and Bears what the Texans are capable of doing. He knows his team hasn't played its best game yet. He knows his team needs to run better, protect better, get after the quarterback better and play better pass defense. And commit fewer penalties, of course, especially the pre-snap variety.
"It's a matter of guys really (getting) dialed in, being on the details of their job," Ryans said. "We've had some really good moments, good stretches of football.
"But on the other side, they make plays as well. I'm not aloof to that. They (opponents) have good players, and they make plays. I think we had some opportunities (at Minnesota) to capitalize and get some plays in our favor, and we didn't. We missed a lot of opportunities, and that falls back on us."
Now the Texans have back-to-back games at home against the Jaguars and undefeated Bills.
"We've got one loss, and our team hasn't changed," Ryans said. "We still have playmakers. We had a bad week, and we flushed that out, and we've moved on to the next one."
