HOUSTON (AP) — of falling apart for the Houston Texans.One of only three winless teams in the NFL Joe Haeg Jersey , the Texans are desperate to get a victory on Sunday against the Colts and try to salvage their season.“We have to win this game,” safety Tyrann Mathieu said. “We just have to win.”After going 4-12 last season, the Texans had high expectations entering this year with the return of stars J.J. Watt and Deshaun Watson, who both missed big chunks of last season with injuries.Instead three straight close losses have the Texans searching for ways to escape the NFL’s basement.“These are close games and it’s the team that doesn’t beat themselves that ends up winning, and we’ve been beating ourselves too much,” coach Bill O’Brien said.It is Houston’s worst start since opening the 2008 season 0-4. If you add the six games they lost to end the 2017 season, the Texans have lost nine straight. It has been more than 10 months since they won a game with their last victory coming against the Arizona Cardinals on Nov. 19.Watt said the importance of ending the skid this week can’t be overstated.“We have to,” he said. “We don’t have one. Haven’t had one in a long time so we really need to get a win. It’s very tough opponent, a very tough place to play so we have to go on the road and put our best foot forward.”The Colts aren’t doing much better than Houston this season and enter the game 1-2. But the Texans haven’t had much success against Indianapolis and have a 7-25 record in 32 meetings. They’ve had even more trouble in Indianapolis where they’ve won just twice in 16 visits.Despite their struggles, O’Brien isn’t worried about the psyche of his team and knows that getting a win against an AFC South opponent will go a long way toward getting things on the right track.“We’ve only played one divisional game,” he said. “We’ve got a big one this week. So John Simon Color Rush Jersey , we just have to keep grinding. There’s no other way out of it. There’s no choice. I think when you have the role that I have, it’s easy. There’s no choice. You have to go to work and you have to figure it out.”For Watson, trying to end a skid is a new experience. Watson, who helped Clemson to a national title in the 2016 season, lost just two games combined in his last two seasons in college. He said this stretch has already taught him some lessons.“Just dealing with adversity,” he said. “Try to take the good with the bad and really dig down each and every week to find out what the problem is.”The problem, according to Watson and O’Brien is not paying attention to details. The Texans rank eighth in the NFL by averaging 396.3 yards a game, but are tied for 22nd in scoring with just 19.7 points a game in part because of an excessive amount of penalties and negative plays in the red zone.Houston’s three losses have been by a combined 15 points, giving the Texans hope that if they tighten a few things up they’ll be able to get over the hump and into the win column this week.“We’re not that far off,” Mathieu said. “We just have to do better at preparing, building up throughout the week and then on gameday https://www.coltsfanshop.com/Chester-Rogers-Jersey , starting fast and then finishing strong. So, if we can do those things and if our five-star players could play like five-star players, then we’ll be good.” INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Andrew Luck accepted the blame for Sunday’s shutout.By Monday, he and the Indianapolis Colts were already talking about Houston.It’s the same routine coach Frank Reich follows each week — make quick corrections, carefully game plan for the next opponent and don’t overthink what went wrong.Naturally, one subpar game won’t get Reich to change his strategy even with playoff aspirations at stake.“Offensively, we just didn’t execute at the level and that ultimately falls on me,” Reich said during his weekly conference call. “It’s my job to put the players in the best position and we didn’t get that done yesterday. It hurts but hey we are shifting, we are moving gears to Houston.”There were plenty of mistakes to correct Monday.After throwing at least three touchdown passes in eight straight games, Luck couldn’t get the Colts (6-6) into the end zone even once at Jacksonville. His timing and improved accuracy were off, leading to the first shutout of Luck’s pro career.Indy’s ground game wasn’t effective either and what had been an effective offensive line during the previous six games allowed three sacks and many more pressures Sunday without its starting center. Ryan Kelly missed his second straight game with an injured left knee.Reich did some self-critiquing Antonio Morrison Jersey , too.Three times with Indy in position to kick field goals, he went for it on fourth down. All three plays came up short.“They outcoached me on that. They played a coverage they had not played in that situation. It was the answer in case they did that and we were just a little off in our execution,” Reich said, referring to the play on fourth-and-goal.“The second (fourth-down) call, the reverse to (Eric) Ebron, it was a high risk-reward. I had envisioned that play into breaking out — not just a first down but possibly a 20 or 30-yard gain. We had a half yard to go. That would be the one that I would question myself the most on. Just run it up the middle. We had half a yard, run a quarterback sneak or just run a dive play up the middle and get the half yard. I took the risk for the big play and I was wrong.”Those failures were compounded by a lack of potent plays, something that became a staple during the Colts’ five-game winning streak.But for everyone inside the locker room, it was a stark reminder of just how quickly results change in the NFL.Over those previous five games, which included two against top-six scoring defenses, Indy averaged 34.6 points. Luck played at a high level and running back Marlon Mack’s return from a hamstring injury helped keep the offense balanced.That wasn’t the case Sunday.“I didn’t hold up my end of the bargain Kenny Moore Color Rush Jersey ,” Luck said following the loss. “(We’ve) got to improve. It’s disappointing. I am disappointed at myself, but we’ll get back to it and we’ll improve.”Defensively, the Colts pressured quarterbacks, slowed down runners and held fast — as they also did against the Jags (4-8).This week, they face a similar scenario against the league’s hottest team. The Texans have won nine straight since starting 0-3.Houston’s defense is every bit as stingy and resourceful as what the Colts dealt with in Jacksonville. And yet Indy needs Luck & Co. to trade punches against a more proficient offense by fixing its flaws.But Reich refuses to let his team make the mistake of spending too much time breaking down Sunday’s miscues at the expense of trying to rebound this week and reassert themselves in the AFC’s tight chase for the sixth and final playoff berth.“What matters tomorrow is get better tomorrow,” Reich said. “Get better every day and then get ready to play the Houston Texans on Sunday.”Notes: Reich only noted two injuries from the game — safety Mike Mitchell (calf) and center Evan Boehm (neck). Boehm returned from his injury and Reich expects him to be available against the Texans. He did not give a prognosis on Mitchell.