The Houston Texans may be having the least enjoyable first place run in recent NFL history.
Their confidence took another hit on Sunday with a 21-13 home loss to the San Diego Chargers, dropping their record to 6-5. The Texans are 29th in points, 29th in total offensive yards, 25th in first downs, 31st in passing yards and 25th in passing touchdowns -- a development that prompted quarterback Brock Osweiler to take the blame.
"I felt like our team gave us the opportunity to win today. The defense played a tremendous game. Our defense battled for all four quarters, for all 60 minutes," he said, via the Houston Chronicle. "I thought our special teams did great things. Bottom line, I didn't play very good.
"This is a damn good football team and I let them down today. I need to play better."
Osweiler was 22 of 37 for 246 yards, no touchdowns and three devastating interceptions on Sunday, which brought the palpable frustration from Texans fans to a fevered pitch on Sunday.
Unfortunately for head coach Bill O'Brien, there's probably no right way to handle this. Osweiler has come to symbolize the underperforming team and his massive offseason deal is like a weight he constantly has to shoulder each time he goes out on the field.
Supporting him blindly makes O'Brien look stubborn, but calling out Osweiler also carries the risk that he could shut down mentally. If there is a game-breaking quarterback in there somewhere, O'Brien needs to do everything he can to dig him out. Having another day like Sunday is not an option.
