It's been over three months since the Jaguars and Texans opened the regular season. 93 days to be exact.
After jumping to a 14-0 lead. Houston thumped Jacksonville at NRG Stadium, 37-21, on September 12. Much has changed for each club since, and Texans Head Coach David Culley pointed to a few key things his team did in Week 1 that they need to do every week.
"One thing that we did during that game that we haven't been able to do since with any kind of consistency is that we protected the ball," Culley said. "We were able to run the ball. We were able to get some big plays down the field. Defensively, we didn't give up a bunch of big plays. I look back on that game, and I say that obviously was one of our better complete games, few complete games we've had. We just haven't been able to get back to that."
The Jaguars lost their next four games after falling in Houston, then picked up a pair of wins in a three-game span, but they're mired in another five-game skid and were blanked, 20-0, last Sunday by the Titans in Jacksonville. Sporting identical 2-11 records, the Texans and Jaguars are at the bottom of the NFL, but each squad's beaten a team with a winning record, as Houston topped the Titans in Week 11 and the Jaguars edged the Bills in Week 9.
"Anybody can be beaten in this league," Texans DL Ross Blacklock said. "I think we just have to see what was good last game and try to match that times two and just go out there and play our best football and come back with a win."
Too often in 2021, the Texans have come out of halftime break and failed to score. They've gone scoreless after the break-in each of their last three contests. Getting more second half production from the offense is a must, according to WR Chris Conley.
"We can't become stagnated in the second-half," Conley said. "Our ability to move the ball in the second half has to become better. We have to take the adjustments and apply them and even if the adjustment is something you haven't talked about before. We have to do a better job of bringing that to the second half."
Houston is off on Tuesday and will practice Wednesday through Friday at the Houston Methodist Training Center. The Texans fly to Jacksonville on Saturday, and they'll kick off with the Jaguars at noon CT at TIAA Bank Field.
The next time you can see the Texans at NRG Stadium is December 26 when they take on the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 16. Kickoff is set for noon CT. Click here for tickets.
