Honestly, the Houston Texans have not been completely outclassed through four weeks. They have lost every game, but three of those defeats came by five points or fewer. 36-31 against the Bills, 19-17 against the Colts and 34-30 against the Dallas Cowboys. The Bengals loss was 20-6.
Still, CBS Sports made the bigger point; a 0-4 start is a failure for a team that entered the season viewed as a Super Bowl contender. That is why the Texans received an “F” in CBS Sports’ first-quarter AFC grades.
Houston’s defense was supposed to be the team’s safety net. Instead, it has allowed too many explosive plays and has not matched last year’s level on a down-to-down basis. CBS Sports specifically called the defense the biggest disappointment and noted that Houston is giving up big plays.
Dallas exposed the problem when Houston led 30-27 with 2:23 left after C.J. Stroud engineered an 87-yard touchdown drive. The defense then had one job to protect the lead. To everyone’s surprise, Dak Prescott marched Dallas 74 yards on 11 plays, finding CeeDee Lamb for the winning 12-yard touchdown with 40 seconds remaining. Lamb finished with 17 catches for 189 yards, while Javonte Williams scored three second-half touchdowns.
The offense, however, has shown signs of life, but Houston has not been consistent enough on the ground or defensively to turn those flashes into wins.
C.J. Stroud and the Texans’ Offense Are Giving Houston a Reason to Believe
Stroud has quietly become one of the positives of the season after entering 2026 as the biggest question mark. Four games later, he is not the reason Houston is 0-4. Stroud has thrown for 1,141 yards, five touchdowns and zero interceptions, completing 93 of 151 passes. His 95.9 passer rating is also a strong improvement from last season.
Nico Collins missed two games with a hamstring injury, but his return against Dallas immediately made a difference. He caught seven passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns, catching both of Stroud’s scoring passes.
The Texans travel to face the 0-4 Tennessee Titans on Sunday, October 11, at 1 p.m. ET. Houston’s offense has shown enough to suggest a turnaround is possible, but at 0-4, there is very little time left to wait. A loss to Tennessee would put the Texans in an even deeper hole, while a victory would at least give them a starting point for a comeback.
