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The Balance Sheet | Daily Brew

NFL coaches love their business. Every Sunday afternoon it's win or lose - like a sales report or balance sheet on their weekly performance. Unfortunately for the Texans, on field production has resulted in way too heavy a number on debit side of the ledger.

That doesn't mean there aren't assets to work with. Deshaun Watson is third in the league in passing and leads the NFL in yards per attempt at 8.9.

In the two weeks heading into the bye, Brandin Cooks was the leading wide receiver in the league. With some healing and rest there's no reason to think the Texans can't keep slinging it at a high level.

A big problem is they haven't been producing early enough in games. The Texans have been outscored in the first half 120-64, averaging under 10 points per quarters one and two. And the Pittsburgh game, in which they went off for 21 points before the break, really skews the number.

In the second half, the Texans are outscoring the opponent 104-91, hardly dominance but a whole lot better than prior to intermission.

We all know this team wants to run the ball. But it hasn't been working according to plan. David Johnson went into the Green Bay game averaging four yards per carry, a nice number. But when you look at the lack of third down and point production in the first halves you can see that the formula hasn't yielded the desired results.

We'll see what Tim Kelly and Romeo Crennel opt to do out of the bye. Will they gear the offense to be in throw-mode earlier and more often in a game? Will the tempo be amped up in the first half? Whatever they decide, the Texans have to find a way to get going earlier in these games.

Houston has had the lead three times going into the fourth quarter, winning only one of those games. Two more wins at this point would put you right in the race.

A glance at the schedule shows that you're not playing Aaron Rodgers, Lamar Jackson or Patrick Mahomes anytime soon. Yet there's no way you can count any chickens unless the performance is better all around.

Another trend that had a two-game slice of momentum was takeaways, with four in the contests heading into Green Bay. That train needs to start rolling again.

It's always a week-to-week league whether you're undefeated or struggling. The 'back 9' starts at the Jags this Sunday. Buckle up and we'll watch what happens together (12 noon, Sports Radio 610, 100.3 FM).

Check out some photos from the Houston Texans practice on Wednesday after the bye week.

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