Houston Texans

5 Reasons The Houston Texans Won't Make the Playoffs

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Houston Texans are currently in first place in the AFC South, but they’re in danger of missing the postseason, here are five reasons they won’t make it

A safe lead in the the AFC South is no longer there for the Houston Texans. For a while they were undefeated at home and were keeping teams at bay despite a shoddy road record. Now, after dropping their first home game of the season, the Texans find themselves in a complete dogfight with the Tennessee Titans and Indianapolis Colts gaining ground.

Fortunately for Houston they do have a win against each of those teams, although neither win was very convincing. At home they managed just one-score wins against each team and that was while both Indy and Tennessee were finding their footing.

Houston will play Indianapolis in Week 14 and Tennessee to close out the year in Week 17. Both of those games will be huge if the Texans hope to win their division. With how things are shaping up, that Week 17 game may in fact be for that title and a spot in the playoffs.

Here are five reasons that matchup won’t go Houston’s way and why they will miss the chance to compete in the playoffs once the 2016 NFL season is in the books.

Oct 24, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Houston Texans defensive end Jadeveon Clowney (90) during the third quarter against the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

5. The Defense Can’t Hold Up

What the Houston Texans showed in their loss to the Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers is that even if they slow offenses down for most of the game, it won’t last. They allowed the Raiders to march right down the field on their final scoring drive.

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Running back Latavius Murray was on the receiving end of a 39-yard reception. That play set up receiver Amari Cooper for a 35-yard touchdown and, just like that, all hope was lost for Houston. The momentum was already shifted before that play however. The Texans stalled on an 11-play drive and instead of making it a two-score lead, they had to settle for a 28-yard field goal. That field goal was a win for the Raiders and they responded in style.

Quarterback Derek Carr threw just one pass as he hit fullback Jamize Olawale for a 75-yard touchdown pass. No one seemed to come close to the bruising Olawale as he tied the game up and the defense wasn’t able to finish the drill

Again in Week 12 they were unable to make plays at the end of the game. In the fourth quarter, Houston was trailing 14-10 and just needed to get the ball back to allow their offense a shot at a comeback. They were unable to do so as a seven-play drive covered 75 yards and put the game away for the Chargers.

The Texans defense is a good unit, but without defensive end J.J. Watt, they aren’t great. They also can’t make the key stops without him on the field.

Oct 24, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Houston Texans guard Xavier Su

4. The Offensive Line is Terrible

Houston wasted a second-round pick in 2014 on guard Xavier Su’a-Filo. He was chosen depsite Derek Carr being available and them having no real quarterback—a problem that still persists. Carr has since become a legitimate MVP candidate in his third season. He has led Oakland to their first winning season since 2002 and they have the inside track on winning the AFC West, one of the toughest divisions in football. In that same three year span, Houston has now gone through the likes Ryan Fitzpatrick, Ryan Mallett, Brian Hoyer, and now Brock Osweiler as their starters.

What made that pick even worse is that Su’a-Filo isn’t that great. Or if he is, it’s hard to tell because the players around him are so bad as well. The offensive line is flat-out bad and they cannot run block or pass protect.

Left tackle Duane Brown is their best player on the unit, but he has been incredibly banged up the past couple of season. Injuries have hurt them in other spots as well on the lone. Their right tackle, Derek Newton, tore both patellar tendons in his knees to make the line even worse.

Even their second round pick, center Nick Martin, succomed to an injury. Before the season begane the rookie was placed on IR due to an ankle injury and they have had to turn to second-year player Greg Mancz. Their ineffectiveness has limited the production of running back Lamar Miller. It also has attributed to some of the struggles in the passing game as the team is hesitant to draw up plays that take long to develop.

Nov 27, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins (10) makes a reception during the third quarter against the San Diego Chargers at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

3. DeAndre Hopkins has Regressed

In 2015 the Houston Texans looked brilliant for moving on from franchise leading receiver Andre Johnson. They decided it was time to look toward the future and they handed the pass-catching reins to DeAndre “Nuk” Hopkins.

Hopkins didn’t dissapoint. Despite the team going through four different starting quarterbacks (due mostly to injuries) Nuk had 111 receptions for 1,521 and 11 touchdowns. He was the first ever Texans’ receiver to record double digit receiving touchdowns.

The hope for him was that with their free agent aquisition of quarterback Brock Osweiler, things would pick up. With no more musical chairs at the position, Hopkins could find his rapport with just one guy and would take off.

Instead, the opposite has happened. Hopkins and Osweiler look like they’re on completely separate pages as they have struggled when trying to hook up. Hopkins is in danger of recording less than 1,000-yards after recording more than 2,700 in the previous two seasons combined.

Through 11-games, Nuk has recorded just 55 receptions for 610 yards and three touchdowns. Not exactly the results he was expecting. It may be due to Osweiler’s poor play or it could be the bad play-calling. Whatever the reason, Nuk has regressed this season and the offense looks bad because of it.

Nov 6, 2016; San Diego, CA, USA; Tennessee Titans running back DeMarco Murray (29) carries the ball to score a touchdown as San Diego Chargers cornerback Adrian Phillips (31) defends during the second half at Qualcomm Stadium. San Diego won 43-35. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

2. Tennessee is Built for December

Unlike the Texans and their porous offense, the Tennessee Titans are built to win in the winter season. This is the team that’s nipping the heels of Houston and they are the favorite to knock them out of first place.

After a slow start to the season, Tennessee has turned it on. They are led by a second-year quarterback who is exciting to watch. Marcus Mariota was the second-overall selection in 2015 out of Oregon and he has developed into one of the better young quarterbacks in the game.

In 12 games he has completed mroe than 64 percent of his passes for 2,998 yards. He has 25 touchdown passes to just eight interceptions. Mariota also added 310 yards and two more touchdowns on the ground.

He isn’t having to do it alone though. The Titans have the NFL’s number two rusher in DeMarco Murray. The former league leading rusher (in 2014 while with the Dallas Cowboys) has 1,043 yards and eight touchdowns. Murray is running a solid 4.6 yards per carry and has the perfect running style to grind out close games.

His backup is rookie Derrick Henry. Built like a brick wall, Henry is averaging 4.5 yards per rush and has added 312 yards and two more scores. With a solid defense and two power backs, this will be a tough team to beat as the weather begins to limit passing games. The same can’t be said for the Texans.

Nov 21, 2016; Mexico City, MEX; Houston Texans quarterback Brock Osweiler (17) throws a a pass against the Oakland Raiders at Estadio Azteca. Mandatory Credit: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports

1. Brock Osweiler

Saying the Houston Texans return on their investment in Brock Osweiler has been minimal would be an understatement. The 6-8 passer was given a four-year deal worth $72 million, $37 million of which was fully guaranteed.

A second-round pick out of Arizona State, Osweiler spent four seasons as a backup to Peyton Manning in Denver. In 2015, the Broncos turned to him for seven starts as the 40-year-old Manning was out injured.

Denver was 5-2 with the youngster at the helm and for a while it appeared he would start over Manning. In Week 17, he was pulled and the future Hall of Fame player was put back in. Osweiler had to watch the team win a Super Bowl from the bench and in the end decided he would rather leave than come back to the team that benched him. For his seven starts, Houston felt justified in the large contract.

So far, he has done nothing to justify the deal. Osweiler has been inconsistent and turnover prone. Through 11 games he has already thrown 13 interceptions, including three against the San Diego Chargers in Week 12.

No team can win with their quarterback tossing it up for grabs as often as Osweiler has. There also doesn’t appear to be any end to the poor passes, which gives the Texans little hope for holding off the surging Titans in the AFC South.

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