Nico Collins stated the obvious when he met with reporters Tuesday inside the media workroom at NRG Stadium.
“It’s a long season,” the former 2021 third-round receiver from Michigan said.
Even before the NFL decided to add a 17th game to the schedule in 2021, the NFL season was long enough with 16 regular season games spanning from early September to late December. Given the square nature of four, NFL teams would have four games per quarter of the season — reasonable enough data sets to identify what type of team they had on their hands.
With 15 games to go, the Texans still have plenty of time to fix their 0-1-1 record. Only the Indianapolis Colts share the same distinction, and it was naturally the result of a 20-20 tie in Week 1 at NRG Stadium.
Houston sought to crack the goose egg in the win column, but they did so in the loss column with a 16-9 disappointment at the Denver Broncos in Week 2. The passing game sputtered as second-year quarterback Davis Mills completed 19 passes on 38 attempts for 177 yards with no touchdowns, no interceptions, and took three sacks.
Collins was the most proficient Texans target with four catches for a team-high 58 yards. Only Brandin Cooks had more targets than Collins with 10, but only by one extra pass. Cooks also had a similar stat line with four catches for 54 yards.
The offense was dismal on third down, going 2-13 in the process. Houston also generated 233 yards total offense — in the year 2022 when the rules in the NFL tend to favor offensive output. The Texans also had 15 first downs.
As the Texans seek their first win, with the Chicago Bears standing in their way at Soldier Field in Week 3, Collins knows it will take a hard look at the inefficiency and lack of execution in Denver to make the necessary improvements.
“I feel we’re going to watch this film, find things we need to work on and build from that,” said Collins.
