The Texans went on the road to try to right the ship against the Carolina Panthers. It didn’t go so well. Carolina topped the Texans 24-17 in another sad showing from the Houston offense. What did we learn from this loss that drops the Texans to 0-2 on the season?
Pick 1: Different QB, Same Result
The big news out of Houston after week one was the need for a change at the quarterback position. In steps Ryan Mallett, who proceeded to start the game 9-of-23 passing before finishing 27-of-58 
passing the football (a 46.5% completion percentage), with a touchdown and an interception. Oh, and those 27 completions only totaled 244 yards.
No matter how you slice it, it still ended in a loss for Houston, and Mallett still couldn’t lead the offense to much of anything. Could Bill O’Brien be thinking about switching these guys back-and-forth until one of them does something worthwhile?
Pick 2: Still No Run Game
Houston rushed the ball 23 times. They gained just 61 yards on the ground. Need I say more? Well, I don’t need to, but I will anyway.
Alfred Blue was the Texans’ leading rusher with 38 yards on 14 carries, and Ryan Mallett ran one in for a score on a six-yard scramble. However, 13 of Blue’s 38 yards came on one carry, so his other 13 carries averaged just 1.9 yards each. That’s heavily on the side of bad.
Pick 3: Turnover Battle
They forced Cam Newton to throw a pick, but Mallett threw one of his own, cancelling it out. Last season, Houston’s defense was one of the top in the league because they shut down offenses, and forced a number of turnovers. Even though the offense is seriously struggling, the defense needs to step their game up as well if they want to get back to winning.
Pick 4: Torched By The Run
It’s always hard to contain Cam Newton, but the Texans defense had no answer for him in the run game. Newton rushed for 76 yards on 10 carries with a touchdown.
Actually, the Texans didn’t have much of an answer for the run at all. Newton may have gotten 76 yards of his own on the ground, but the Panthers as a team rushed for 172 yards on 33 carries. The defensive front is supposed to be the strength of this defense, and it is, but they didn’t show much resistance to the Carolina rushing attack.
Pick 5: Worry About Yourself!
One of the things that stood out the most during the game was the immaturity and lack of discipline shown by some of the Texans players. Committing 10 penalties for 70 yards is bad enough, but there was something even worse that happened that reflects poorly on the mentality of this team.
After a sack early in the game, JJ Watt decided to celebrate by mocking Cam Newton’s first down celebration. You already have a celebration of your own, JJ. You don’t need to stoop to that level.
Then after running it in for a touchdown to make it a one-possession game, Ryan Mallett mocked Cam Newton’s “SuperCam” celebration. Listen, dude, you played a horrible game and were still losing by a full touchdown and an extra point after the score. You’re not really in a position to celebrate, let alone mock someone who is beating you and outplaying you.
If you’re the Texans, you’re now 0-2. Stop worrying about showing off or mocking the other team and start worrying about playing your game.
Pick 6: The AFC South Is Failing Too
The one silver lining in all of this mess the Texans find themselves in thus far is that the rest of the AFC South looks pretty abysmal as well.
The Colts find themselves at 0-2 after losing to the Jets on Monday night in a game where they committed five turnovers. Jacksonville had a good showing against the Dolphins to improve to 1-1, and the Titans couldn’t keep the momentum going against the Browns as they fell to Johnny Football and the crew to drop to 1-1.
So the good news is that as bad as the Texans have been so far, they’re not alone. The AFC South is sticking together and deciding to give them some company.
