HOUSTON -- The Houston Texans dug themselves into a 0-3 hole to open the season, but they enter the bye with a little reason for optimism.
The Texans opened the season losing in a way they usually don't: Failing to finish -- something that had been the opposite of the standard that DeMeco Ryans created through the first two years of his coaching tenure.
Houston entered the season at 14-8 in one-score games, but after falling to the Los Angeles Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Jacksonville Jaguars on the last drive, the team felt it just had to finish.
The Texans also knew they had to step it up on offense, averaging 12 points in that stretch.
In the last two weeks, the Texans have had an offensive explosion -- outscoring the Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens 70-10. And while both teams have combined for a record of 2-8, wins are hard to capture in the NFL.
"You always want to go into the bye week with a win," Ryans said. "It's much better when you roll in with a win. We will get a chance to take a breather here and reset."
Despite being 2-3 heading into the bye week, general manager Nick Caserio feels Houston is in a "decent spot."
"A big thing from our perspective, continue to improve, making progress as a team," Caserio said. "That's where our focus should be. So, there's a lot of football in front of us."
So far, their strong suit has been the defense. They're allowing an NFL-low 12.2 points per game and 265.8 yards per game, which ranks third. Their pass defense has more interceptions (five) than touchdowns allowed (three).
Their defense has faced a number of strong offenses as the Rams (24.6 points per game), Buccaneers (27), Jaguars (25.4) and Ravens (28.2) all sit within the top 15 in scoring. And each of those teams possesses a Pro Bowl quarterback. Granted, the Ravens' Lamar Jackson (hamstring) didn't play in Week 5, and Houston overwhelmed backup Cooper Rush -- forcing him into three interceptions.
The Texans' offense has been inconsistent, but there has been an upswing the last two weeks. Quarterback C.J. Stroud had six passing touchdowns in the two wins, which was highlighted by his four touchdowns against the Ravens. On the season, Stroud is 13th in passing yards (1,076) and tied for ninth in touchdowns (nine).
The Texans rank 22nd in total offense (314 yards per game) and 21st in points per game (21.6) through the first five games of new coordinator Nick Caley's tenure.
But even through the early struggles, Ryans always felt optimistic about Caley.
"Caley has done a great job," Ryans said. "It didn't show the first weeks because we didn't execute well. We came out [against the Ravens] and executed. We run our offense the right way."
After scoring a season-high 44 points in Week 5, Stroud said, "We can be really good when we clean up mistakes."
"You always want to see your proof in the pudding," Stroud said. "You want to take a step forward every game. I thought today, we did that in a lot of ways. We still have to clean some things up, but I'm happy with the win."
When the Texans come off the bye, they'll hit the road to face another strong offensive team in the Seattle Seahawks (3-2), who average 29.2 points (fifth), on "Monday Night Football."
"I think we'll be able to flip the script in these next couple weeks to finish October really well," Stroud said.
They'll need to flip the script to keep pace in the AFC South, with the Indianapolis Colts and Jaguars both off to 4-1 starts, but the taste of winning could help remedy that.
"I want our guys to feel like where we are as a team over the past two weeks, like remember that feeling," Ryans said. "Remember what it feels like."