The Houston Texans are a mess right now. I have no shame in saying that. It’s a tough thing to admit when we got to witness a phenomenal rookie performance from Deshaun Watson in the first part of the season, but now that he's gone, the Texans flaws are showing a lot more than ever before. Now let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. No one expected the Texans to do anything this season. With Tom Savage being named the starting Quarterback, many looked at Houston as a team who were going through a rebuilding year and preparing for the future franchise Quarterback, Deshaun Watson. This was, of course, short-lived, as the Texans got destroyed by the Jacksonville Jaguars opening day. Deshaun Watson was thrown into a sticky situation, but he showed that he was up for the challenge and has brought the Texans back from the dead making them one of the better offenses in the NFL.

This has all changed though as Deshaun Watson’s injury has exposed that the Texans are more broken than anyone could’ve ever imagined. There were many analysts who predicted Houston would lose the AFC South to the Tennessee Titans. At first, this seemed very unlikely as Watson and the Texans put 5 touchdowns against the Titans defense and ultimately won the game 57-14. The Texans were putting up incredible fights against great teams like the Patriots and the Seahawks. No one expected a young Deshaun Watson to adapt so well in the NFL. He turned an offense that had struggled to average a touchdown a game over the past few years into one of the best offensive scoring teams in the League. Houston was doing big things now even while they suffered many injuries on the defensive side. But now things are different.

After losing Deshaun Watson to a torn ACL that would remove him from the game for the rest of the season, the Texans have been getting destroyed on all sides. Tom Savage has clearly shown that he doesn’t deserve to be a starting Quarterback for Houston, but the decision to keep him as the starter for the Cardinals matchup next week shows that the Texans have given up on doing anything this season. The Titans winning the AFC South is actually very relevant now thanks to a very injured Houston Texans team. So now what?

First off, Houston should not lose hope yet. The first thing Houston fans have to do is accept failure and realize that this season is over, which is okay. It’s never fun losing and you should go in every week trying to get the win, but in this situation, it is okay to accept that the Super Bowl is out of reach. Now with that being said, every week is important, because your players have to go out on that field and play to the fullest. Every play counts for these players because the way they play will ultimately affect their value and how much they’re worth.

Deshaun Watson’s injury has helped show a lot of the Texans’ problems and what exactly they need to focus on. With Deshaun being out of the picture, the passing threat down the field does not even exist anymore. We already knew that the offensive line was pretty bad, but Tom Savage is not as mobile as Watson is in the pocket. Tom Savage threw two interceptions and had two fumbles for a total of four turnovers against the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams defense took advantage of the line and pressured Savage all day long proving that the offensive line is one of the first things General Manager Rick Smith must focus on in the offseason. I will not criticize Lamar Miller too much and the rushing game, because I believe that the horrible rushing performance is connected the offensive line’s performance.

On the defensive side, there is a lot to talk about. The defensive front doesn’t look pretty at all. Jadeveon Clowney has done a lot this season to start off. Now we can’t be mad at this because losing JJ Watt and Whitney Mercilus has damaged the Texans and has caused the defense to not have balance and it’s easier for an offense to focus on key players on the defense like Clowney. The secondary needs a lot of improvement as once again we see that Jonathan Joseph and Kareem Jackson are not enough to provide coverage for the defense. Rick Smith’s biggest mistake was getting rid of Quintin Demps and A.J. Bouye. Both players are doing well in the League right now and show that they are valuable players in the secondary. A.J. Bouye made the game-changing interception on Sunday against the Chargers that helped bring home the win for the Jaguars. Without the offensive threat that Deshaun provided, it is easy to see that the Texans defense is broken and needs to be repaired immediately.

Now the good news is not all hope is lost for the Texans yet. Deshaun Watson will return next season, and hopefully, he will be better than before. He has had a major setback no doubt, but he is young and still has a lot of developing to do. But the major problem is that the Texans cannot let Deshaun Watson be the main reason for their downfall. He is the Quarterback, but you try to balance your team on both sides to help build a team that can compete in times of adversity.

These next few months are huge for the Texans as they begin to see what they must do to improve the team. The most important man for Houston is General Manager Rick Smith. It is up to him to get us out of this hole and try to build a Super Bowl team for our future franchise Quarterback, Deshaun Watson.