With a 23-7 lead at halftime, the Houston Texans were in great position to upset the 7-1 Detroit Lions on Sunday night. Houston then went scoreless in the second half, losing 26-23 on a last-second field goal despite forcing a franchise record five interceptions.
The second half offense for Houston is a problem. Of the Texans’ 10 games this season, eight have been decided by one score or less. In those eight games, Houston averages 16 points and 203 yards in the first half. Those numbers drop to 6 points and 136 yards in the second half. Over the whole season, Houston is sixth in first half scoring and 26th in second half scoring.
“We have to look at it. Second half of course we understand we haven’t moved the ball, we haven’t scored points in the second half,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said after Sunday’s loss. “Defensively, done some things that are uncharacteristic in the second half, so we just have to find a way to play a complete game.”
Houston is 1-3 in its past four games. In each of those three losses the Texans had the halftime lead. In fact, they’ve led at halftime in nine-of-10 games this season, the only exception being Week 3 against the Minnesota Vikings.
“We gotta stop playing to not lose and go play to win,” Houston running back Joe Mixon said Sunday night, via Shaun Bijani.
Ryans mentioned the defense as partly to blame for the second-half woes, but that feels unfair. Detroit entered Week 10 as the highest-scoring offense, averaging 32.3 points per game. They held the Lions to 26 and intercepted Detroit quarterback Jared Goff a career-high five times. In 2023 Houston had four 30-point games by Week 10. It has one this season, coming against the 3-7 New England Patriots.
The Buffalo Bills win is a perfect example. Josh Allen had a historically bad performance, completing a career-worst 30% of his passes for 131 yards (season low) and a touchdown. Yet Houston needed a last-second 59-yard field goal to win the game. Houston was up 17-3 against Buffalo at halftime, but a couple turnovers and a bunch of punts in the second half gave Buffalo life when it never should’ve had any.
The eventual return of Nico Collins will help this offense immensely. He left in the first quarter of that Buffalo game and hasn’t been back since. Collins is clearly one of the league’s best receivers, leading the league with 113 receiving yards per game. But he also isn’t the reason Houston’s offense mysteriously plummets in second half production.
Houston has held double-digit leads over two of the league’s best teams in Detroit and Buffalo. That’s been because of Houston’s defensive dominance in those games. If the offense steps up, the Texans will instantly become a Super Bowl contender. If it doesn’t, Houston’s hopes of a playoff run will dwindle.
