Houston Texans: Three reasons why the team lost to the Colts

Secondary exposed early and often

This is another problem that was known but was really revealed in this matchup, once again, by Luck and T.Y. Hilton. Despite there being big and well-known names like Tyrann Mathieu, Johnathan Joseph, and Kareem Jackson, as well as standout rookie Justin Reid, this unit just wasn’t able to pull together consistent, solid games.

Now, each of those four guys was able to put together multiple great games this season but it was rarely all at the same time. A lot of the issues that were on display, both during this game and the rest of the season, were due to depth problems.

Aaron Colvin, the Houston Texans prized free agent signing this past offseason, was somehow inactive with Deante Burton, a recent wide receiver convert, active instead. Colvin wasn’t on any injury report and appeared to be out due to a coach’s decision. This baffles me, though, I am not in meetings or anything like that so there be major issues behind closed doors.

Outside of Colvin and Burton, the Texans have trotted out Shareece Wright, Kayvon Webster, Kevin Johnson, amongst others, behind the starters. None of those names inspire fear. A lot of these guys will be free agents following the season, including Mathieu, Joseph, and Jackson so, there could be a lot of turnover, though, I expect Mathieu and potentially Jackson to be back.

Anyways, back to the game. In the third matchup of the season, the Houston Texans still weren’t able to solve the Hilton and Eric Ebron problem. Those two have torched the Texans, now, three times this year with them only slowing down after this game was already out of hand. Outside of those two, the Colts have a rag-tag band of receivers that found countless holes in the secondary.

Something has got to change next year to solve these secondary issues. Whenever the pass rush isn’t top tier, the secondary can’t stop a thing. So, whether it’s coaching, personnel, or scheme, something has to change for next season as this issue cropped to often, most recently in the Texans season-ending game.