Houston’s 0-3 start is starting to look less like a bad stretch and more like a pattern.
That is the backdrop for Nick Caley’s latest task as Texans offensive coordinator: find at least two fixes, and find them quickly, because the offense has already spent three weeks looking stuck in the same places. Through the first three games of the 2026 season, Houston has produced some of the worst offensive output since its 0-3 start last year, and the bye week does not arrive until Week 8.
The urgency is not abstract. It showed up again in Sunday’s AFC South matchup with Indianapolis, a game that was framed as a meeting between an ailing Texans offense and the league’s worst defense. Both teams entered Week 3 at 0-2, with the stakes described as “must-win” for each side. Instead, Houston spent the afternoon digging itself into another hole.
The Texans trailed 13-7 at halftime, and the game ended in a 19-17 Colts win on a late field goal.
That result fit the larger story. Houston’s offense was described as “one of the most disappointing halves of football in the DeMeco Ryans era,” and as a “no-show yet again in a first-half disaster against the Colts.” The Texans never really gave themselves room to breathe, let alone control the game.
Caley’s first problem is the run game. Houston’s rushing offense owns the league’s highest runs stuffed rate at 25.4%, a figure that clears the next-worst team by 4.1%. In practical terms, one in every four rushing attempts is getting blown up at or behind the line. Against Indianapolis, the Texans managed only 70 rushing yards at 3.3 yards per carry.
That kind of production leaves little margin for the rest of the offense. It also puts a spotlight on the players getting the most touches in the passing game, because the suggested fixes include changing those roles if Houston wants even a slight chance at a more dynamic offense.
The line has been part of the problem in both phases. C.J. Stroud has been sacked 10 times through three games, tied for second-most in the league. The same front that has struggled to create room in the run game has also left the quarterback taking too many hits, and the Texans’ early-season issues have not come against elite competition alone.
The Colts entered the game with the NFL’s worst defense.
That is what made the first-half collapse so jarring. In a matchup where something had to give, Houston’s offense gave first.
The broader concern is that the Texans are no longer being judged only on whether they can fix Sunday’s problems. The repeated breakdowns are now pulling general manager Nick Caserio into the conversation as well. He is in the final year of the six-year contract he signed in 2021, and the scrutiny around the offensive line has only intensified after Houston added at least five new linemen between free agency and the draft without getting the kind of results the team needed.
That is why the next few weeks matter beyond the box score. Caley has at least two fixes he can try right away, but the Texans are already 0-3, already staring at a Week 8 bye, and already dealing with an offense that has looked broken in more than one way. The question is no longer whether Sunday was ugly. It is whether the same problems keep showing up long enough to turn an offensive crisis into something bigger.