Texans’ Cal McNair ‘excited’ by 3-1 start, and that ‘our team can play a whole lot better’

HOUSTON – Four games into the NFL season, the Houston Texans are atop the AFC South division and ranked as the second seed in the entire AFC.

Behind the play of Pro Bowl quarterback C.J. Stroud, a strong receiving corps headlined by NFL receiving yardage leader Nico Collins and a stout defense headlined by Pro Bowl defensive ends Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter, linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair and cornerback Derek Stingley Jr., the Texans have a ton of talent across their roster.

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While the Texans, a playoff team and division champion last season, have displayed signs of growth, there are also several areas where they still need to improve heading into a litmus test of a game against the 3-1 Buffalo Bills.

The Texans lead the NFL with 40 penalties for 326 yards and Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil leads the league with 11 penalties with 10 accepted, including seven false starts, three illegal formation penalties and two holding calls. The running game has sputtered. And there have been big plays allowed against the run and pass on defense.

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What that means for a returning playoff contender in first place is they’ve found ways to win under coach DeMeco Ryans while not playing their best football. Especially not in a 34-7 blowout loss to the Minnesota Vikings on the road. It also means there’s an opportunity to fix the mistakes and become a more efficient squad.

The Texans are the lone team in the NFL that has been outscored and has a winning record with 79 points scored and 94 points allowed for a -15 differential.

“Excited for where we are, really happy about that and excited for the future,” Texans principal owner and CEO Cal McNair said during a community event at Stephen F. Austin High School where the football team was given a $20,000 check through a new Grow the Game initiative.” I think our team can play a whole lot better and we’re looking forward to them putting together a really good game this Sunday and see where we stack up against a good Bills team coming in. So, we’re really excited about where we are and where we’re headed.”

The Texans are coming off a 24-20 comeback victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars at NRG Stadium. It was a loud crowd, especially during a clutch goal-line stand as defensive tackle Foley Fatukasi stuffed Trevor Lawrence on fourth down on a quarterback draw and setting the stage for Stroud’s game-winning touchdown pass to running back Dare Ogunbowale in the game’s final minute.

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“[The fans] were wonderful,” said Hannah McNair, the Texans’ foundation vice president. “I do, however, like how early the fans were there for the Bears game and hopefully we can reach that level again right at the kickoffs. That would be great, but we love our fans. They were loud. They helped us. I think how loud they got when they didn’t convert that fourth down was really fun and inspired the players to go finish that game.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com