Sarah Barshop, ESPN Staff Writer 6y

'Fixable' mistakes lead to 0-3 mark for Deshaun Watson, Texans

HOUSTON -- After the Houston Texans dropped their third-straight game to start the season, Deshaun Watson didn't hesitate when asked why the offense struggled in Sunday's 27-22 loss to the New York Giants.

"We've got to stop hurting ourselves," he said.

Houston fell to 0-3 in part because of a slow start and an inconsistent performance from Watson and the offense. Those mistakes began with seven penalties and carried into the red zone, where the Texans were 2-of-5 with a turnover. Watson said it's especially frustrating because the mistakes are "fixable."

"All of it's self control," he said.

"The penalties, especially, are killing us," coach Bill O'Brien said. "The red area is killing us. I think we had four false starts, had holding calls again [and had a touchdown] called back."

The Texans now face an uphill climb. Since the NFL established its current playoff format, just 1 percent of teams who lose their first three games make the playoffs.

"[We're] 0-3," defensive lineman J.J. Watt said. "It's not a good place to be. You have to find a way to win. ... I told the guys in there: 'We're at the bottom. You've got to find a way to claw your way out of the bottom. One day at a time. You've got to stick together.'

"Obviously you don't expect anyone outside of the building to believe in you, and rightfully so. You have no choice. You've got to stick together. All of us need to look in the mirror, analyze ourselves and figure out what we can do better every single day. Find a way to win games. None of us expected to be here. None of us want to be here, but the reality is we're here. So you control what you can control."

Watson was 24-of-40 for 385 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, but the Texans scored just six of their 22 points in the first half and trailed at halftime for the third game in a row.

He targeted receivers DeAndre Hopkins (six catches for 86 yards) and Will Fuller V (five catches for 101 yards and a touchdown) frequently, but the running game never got into a rhythm. The Giants loaded up the box and the Texans "tried a bunch of different schemes," according to O'Brien, but the Texans had to abandon the running game in the second half. Lamar Miller and Alfred Blue combined for 23 yards on 14 carries.

Now, the Texans sit at 0-3 for the first time since they started 0-4 in 2008. Safety Tyrann Mathieu was quick to point out that even though the odds might be against the Texans to make the playoffs, there are "a bunch of teams that have not started the way that they wanted to" and still went on have a successful run. And according to Mathieu, that turnaround will start with the Texans' veteran leaders.

"When things don't go right, it's a lot of noise outside the building, and then guys start creating noise in their own heads," Mathieu said. "We just have to cut back on having guys separate from the team, even though we haven't had the start we wanted to.

"As long as guys know we have a game next week, they'll come in here prepared. But if they know you're not going to play next week, guys won't show up. It really starts with the leadership."

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