Texans coach Bill O’Brien outlines positives from 28-21 loss to the Steelers
The Houston Texans gave up a four-point halftime lead to the Pittsburgh Steelers en route to a 28-21 loss in Week 3 that sends the club to an 0-3 start, but there were some positives in the game.
Coach Bill O’Brien prefaced the positives in his Monday presser that “it stinks when you have to talk about positives” after a loss, but nonetheless acknowledged the obvious points of light.
“We played pretty good complementary football in the first half,” O’Brien said. “Obviously, we’ve played three really good teams. We’re not there yet. We didn’t win any of those games but feel like we’ve definitely improved, and we need to try to play 60 minutes of that type of football.”
The loss to the Steelers was the first time the Texans led at halftime. Furthermore, after the Steelers pulled ahead 17-14, and would have possession to open the second half, Houston scored a touchdown to take a 21-17 lead at the break and stifle the Steelers’ momentum.
Houston also led 21-20 in the fourth quarter. The club hasn’t played a full 60 minutes of football, or at least excellent enough in other parts to secure victory after four quarters, but the Texans’ ability to stay with Pittsburgh was encouraging.
“I think if we play 60 minutes of that type of football we can win,” said O’Brien. “But we’ve got to get it going here very quickly. Like I said last week, we’ve got to get it going.”
The Texans’ next opponent is another desperate team seeking to meet their potential and salvage a disastrous 0-3 start. The Minnesota Vikings lost a squeaker at home, 31-30, to the Tennessee Titans. Houston will have to play a full 60 minutes against the Vikings, or else have to put up with another 10,080 minutes of anguish and regret as another win slipped way, much like the season.
