HOUSTON -- The season opened with Super Bowl hopes for the Houston Texans, but after four weeks, hopes of even making the playoffs seem grim.
The Texans are at 0-4 and for various reasons: Some weeks the blame lies on the offense; other weeks it's the defense; some weeks it' both.
Simply put, Houston has not lived up to expectations internally or externally.
Last year, the Texans started 0-3 and had a fierce turnaround towards the playoffs, and in 2023, they started 0-2 and had the same result.
But only one team in NFL history has overcome a 0-4 start: The 1992 Chargers.
Previous success stories don't matter to quarterback C.J. Stroud as he said following the loss to the Dallas Cowboys last Sunday, "last year's bread isn't going to feed us this year."
"You have to be an iPhone. You have to upgrade every year," Stroud said. "You have to upgrade whatever that looks like from personnel to plays to execution. Everything has to rise up and you can't look back and be like, 'Oh, well, we did it this time, we can do it this time.' You have to be able to flush successes and failures and be able to do your job each and every play. It doesn't matter what happened in the previous year."
The most unforeseen downgrade is the defense, that allowed the fewest yards and second-fewest points last season, not playing up to its potential. So far its allowed 34 points to the Cowboys and 36 against the Buffalo Bills in the season opener. For context, no one scored over 30 against the Texans last season.
The last time a team eclipsed that mark was on Christmas in 2024 when the Baltimore Ravens scored 31.
The defense had a players-only meeting after Week 2, but All-Pro defensive end Will Anderson Jr. said there needs to action behind the words after the most-recent loss.
"It's only so much talking you can do," Anderson said. "Now it's time to look at yourself in the mirror as a man and figure out where your priorities are and how you are going to show up and get it fixed."
Stroud entered the season under heavy scrutiny after a litany of mistakes (five interceptions and two fumbles) in Houston's two-game playoff run in January and two down seasons compared to his historic rookie year in 2023.
Through the first four weeks, Stroud ranks sixth in passing yards (1,141) and is sixth in explosive rate on his drop backs, per Next Gen Stats.
But more importantly, he and the offense have given the team chances to win. Three of their four losses have come after scoring a go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
"If the offense goes out and plays like they played to give us 30 points, defensively you have to find a way to close that game out," coach DeMeco Ryans said. "It was disappointing that we've been in three games ... where the offense has done a great job and we haven't been able to close it out there in the second half. We've got to look at it all and see what changes we need to make and what we need to fix."
The 0-4 start has been a lack of complementary football from Houston. Yes, the blame can be placed on the defense for not closing out games, but the offense has had its faults too -- especially in Week 2 against the Cincinnati Bengals and the Indianapolis Colts in Week 3.
The unit didn't have its No. 1 wideout in Nico Collins those weeks, but 11.5 points per game and producing 298 yards per game (when you average 343.8) is never ideal. Yes, Stroud and the offense scored a go-ahead drive late against the Colts, but Houston had only seven points entering the fourth quarter.
The Texans and Buccaneers are the first preseason division favorites to start 0-4 since 2013 (both Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Giants), according to ESPN Research. But what is keeping Ryans' optimistic despite the odds being stacked against them is that if Houston's defense came up clutch, the Texans would be 3-1.
But he's still acknowledging the reality.
"That's how I operate," Ryans said. "I don't know any other way. Yeah, we can easily be 3-1. We're not. Let's find a way to go make those plays. Let's find a way to go get it done. That's my mindset, and that's how it always will be. Next matchup is up."
The next matchup will be against the Tennessee Titans, also winless, on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS). A loss to an 0-4 team would take Houston's playoff hopes from grim to needing a comeback story that's never been seen before just to keep hope alive instead one that only one other team has done.
Optimistic or not, that's quite the task.