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Vandermeer's View: Stopped streak, short week

Bill O'Brien kept telling us that the Texans hadn't 'really done anything.' Clearly the winning streak was monumental and transformed the season into a strong run toward January football. But, the coach is right, in that, they haven't clinched anything yet and Sunday's loss confirmed that there's still much work to do if the Texans are going to realize their goals.

The day got off to a slow start on offense and never really got clicking until the second half when the Texans went 5-for-8 on third downs and put up 201 yards and two touchdowns.

Houston could ill afford to get off the launching pad slowly with a piping hot Andrew Luck on the other sideline. Luck already had 237 yards in the first half and T.Y. Hilton had 94 of his 199 yards before the break. It was that kind of day.

Yes, the Texans held the Colts to one touchdown in the second half but Indy still racked up 11 first downs and was able to run out the clock after the Texans cut the lead to three outside of the two-minute warning.

Like the first match up, pass protection was difficult as Watson was sacked five times. He threw the ball 38 times, the most attempts since the Dallas game, and was able to get his team in the end zone early in the third quarter and late in the fourth to keep hope alive late.

The bigger problem offensively was the inability to get the ground game going early. The Texans ran for 53 yards in the second half but took too many negative plays in the first and second quarters.

And this was not the kind of game in which you could wait for the offense to come around. The Colts were ultra-motivated, knowing that a loss would kill their division hopes and reduce their wild card chances to a paper thin margin.

Another disappointing aspect of the afternoon was the fact that the Patriots fell, on a miraculous 'Stanford band' type of play at Miami. We were hoping for a win and some help to get an inside track at a bye. Let me remind you, at this point, that O'Brien and his players don't engage in such talk, because they know that most the important goals are right there in front of them. But I do.

Next up, the Jets on a short week. Playing in the Northeast in December can create a lot of problems, no matter who the opponent is. The forecast calls for some rain, a little wind and temperatures in the upper 40s/lower 50s. You, know, like Houston in the last few days.

New York is coming off a win over the Bills. The Texans have to bounce back and start another streak.

As much fun as the nine game run was, the real drama is still ahead of us.

The Houston Texans took on the Indianapolis Colts for Week 14 of the 2018 NFL Season.

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