Before the Texans began their week seven matchup with the Miami Dolphins there was an optimistic aura around the team. They were coming off a week where the quarterback position looked as stout as it had the entire season. The offense had finally found a rhythm they could try to build momentum from. And the defense, that had 
been struggling, registered a season high 3 takeaways against Jacksonville. All signs were pointing toward the proverbial pendulum taking a positive upswing.
Nah.
Shortly after kickoff, Texan fans were woken from that dream and brought back to reality. The sad, sad reality it is.
The final score was 44-26 but please don’t interpret that to mean this game was merely lopsided. This game was an absolute slaughter from the moment it began. All but three of Miami’s 44 points were notched by halftime and two of the primary contributors, Lamar Miller and Jarvis Landry didn’t play in the second half.
Before you begin searching for a shrink to help you comprehend the trauma you just experienced, let’s take one more look back and see what went so wrong and if there were any positives to take away from Sunday’s debacle.
The Good
The Colts lost, so as putrid as the Texans have been thus far, they still sit just one game out of first place in the AFC South but other than that….nothing. Not one thing. If you saw anything remotely positive please let me know.
The Bad
Where do I start? The offensive line generated no push up front, so the ground game obviously suffered. Because the ground game suffered the offense found itself in obvious pass situations. In those obvious pass 
situations Miami was able to bring pressure that kept Brian Hoyer under heavy duress all day. Consistently under duress, Hoyer rushed many of his pass attempts. Those rushed passes were often inaccurate and when they did manage to hit their targets, many were dropped.
If you can fathom this, the defense might have been even worse. It’s one thing for the offense to repetitively have three-and-outs and not generate points but at least they’re not blowing the game in that sense. If the defense can stall them out with some stops and generate opportunities or even help with good field position, that can jumpstart the offense out of a funk.
That is what the Houston defense could do in the past and that is what the team needed Sunday. But as evidenced in previous games this season, this year’s defense is not at all what fans have grown to recognize.
Ryan Tannehill threw four touchdowns in the first 16 minutes and completed his first 18 passes and Miami became the first team in 75 years to score four offensive touchdowns of at least 50 yards in a half.
It wasn’t like Tannehill was Marinoing the hell out of the Texan defense either. He would throw short passes that would turn into huge gains because of Houston’s horrendous tackling. But I digress.
The Ugly
Yes, this game leaves an awful taste in the mouths of the Texans and their fans but they will gather 
themselves, wipe it out and move on to a very winnable game against Tennessee. One person who cannot forget what transpired Sunday is Arian Foster. He is now lost for the season with a torn Achilles tendon.
This is obviously a huge loss for the team moving forward as Foster has been one of the most productive players in NFL history. In his time with the team he has compiled the third most yards from scrimmage per game, only trailing Jim Brown and Barry Sanders in that category.
As tough as it may be, the Texans now have to move on. This pathetic division is still well within their grasps, especially with the Colts next three opponents having a combined record of 16-1. Someone has to win the division right?
