Disappointing. Embarrassing. Pathetic. These are the words that come to mind when describing the Houston Texans' performance against the New York Giants yesterday in a 27-21 overtime loss at home, but it's not just that one game. Those words also perfectly sum up the entire season the Texans have had so far. With this loss, the Texans' dwindling playoff chances have decreased to under 10%, according to Yahoo Sports (https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/team-hell-now-forget-playoffs-224742318.html). 

 This defense came into the season as a top 3 unit, with aspirations to become the best in the league. That was a floozy. The Texans defense is 6 spots removed from last in passing yards allowed per game, and 11th in rushing yards allowed per game (ESPN.com). Additionally, they are 20th in the league for points allowed per game (24.3), according to legionreport.com.  DeMeco Ryans is a defensive-minded head coach, so the defense is usually held to a higher standard than the offense, but right now the defense is this team's Achilles ' heel. The Texans' offense is right in the middle of the pack for offensive yards per game (16th in the NFL), according to ESPN.com. The offense has improved from last season, but it still isn't spectacular, and it needs a competent defense to rely on. The defense was AWFUL against the Giants. The Texans' 'swarm' unit that we saw last season is no more. Players are constantly missing tackles, and the secondary is getting beat just about every passing play. The only way this secondary gets stops is if the line bails them out (via swat or sack) or if there are self-inflicted wounds by the other team (drops or missed passes). The defensive line, the biggest strength of this Houston defense, isn't even able to help them out because everyone is missing tackles, so they are forced to play conservatively and watch the run. Even on obvious passing downs, the line can't do anything because the secondary gets beat immediately. This defense is almost exactly the same as last year, other than linebacker EJ Speed being out for the season and Reed Blankenship signing in the offseason to play safety. This team returned 10/11 of its defensive starters from last season, which might make you wonder what the heck is going wrong in Houston??? The players aren't showing up. It's as simple as that. Many defensive stars from last season got paid, but are no longer showing up. DeMeco Ryans said it best in his post-game presser when asked about the struggling pass defense: "Somebody's made an error... we don't design coverages for guys to be wide open." DeMeco Ryans ultimately took full responsibility for the Texans' meltdown this season, but his point rings true. The Texans' defense is making uncharacteristic mistakes, and it has to be fixed. Teams no longer fear this defense because they can take the top off it. Last year, throwing windows were extremely tight, and quarterbacks were forced to hold the ball, but this year it seems as if on every play there are multiple open players. Players are missing tackles, leaving receivers open, and are often unable to make quarterbacks uncomfortable like they did last season. Jalen Pitre should return after the bye, but at this point I wonder if it will even matter for this defense. Maybe linebacker EJ Speed was much more important to the defense than anyone realized, because since he tore his ACL, they have been awful. The Texans will head into the bye week facing a harsh reality. They have an ultimatum: either go on a run to finish the season, or miss the playoffs for the first time under head coach DeMeco Ryans. The offense still lacks consistency at times, but the losses the Texans have been dealt are largely thanks to this bumbling Houston defense.

Not a lot to spotlight this week. CJ played decent as always, but this week's award will go to Marvin Harrison Jr. for getting his first touchdown as a Texan. CJ missed Marvin Harrison twice on deep balls, but Marvin Harrison Jr. was still able to separate very well on these plays. He easily could have had a bigger day had Cj made those throws.