Texans have overcome 0-3 starts before, but can they do it again?

The Houston Texans entered the 2026 season with legitimate Super Bowl aspirations. But after Sunday's 19-17 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, there is absolutely nothing about them that looks like a Super Bowl contender, at least offensively, and they now find themselves in an 0-3 hole.

Since the start of the 2000 season, only two teams have overcome an 0-3 start to actually make the playoffs.

The Texans have done it both times, overcoming it in 2018 and again just last year during the 2025 season. 

Now they have to do it again.

Can Houston Texans overcome another 0-3 start?

If nothing else, there has to at least be some comfort for the Texans to know they are capable of doing it. They not only started last year 0-3, but they were 3-5 after eight games and looked to be a team going nowhere.

Then, thanks in large part to the dominance of their defense, they were able to rip off nine consecutive wins to close out the regular season before going on the road and beating the Pittsburgh Steelers in the wild-card round of the AFC playoffs. 

Their winning streak ended one week later in the divisional round against the New England Patriots. 

The good news for the Texans is the defense is still there, and it's mostly been doing its job this season, and especially over the past two weeks.

Limiting Joe Burrow to 20 points should be enough to win.

They limited the Colts to just 19 points on Sunday. That should be enough to win. 

The problem is the offense has simply not really found its rhythm in the early part of the season, scoring just 23 points over the past two games. 

Quarterback C.J. Stroud hasn't been bad, but he hasn't really been a difference-maker yet. He is betting on himself this season after not getting a contract extension in the offseason, and so far, the results have been very mixed. 

His ability to take the next step was always going to be a big X-factor in this season for the Texans, and that's going to be even more important now.

The problem the Texans might have to deal with this season is the fact all three of these losses have come against AFC teams, including Sunday's game within the division.

In 2025, two of their first three losses were against NFC teams, which negated potential tiebreaker situations. They have already lost potential tiebreakers against two potential playoff teams (Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals) and are already down a game in the division. 

If there is another potential silver lining in this, or reason for optimism, it's that the schedule does soften up a bit in the coming weeks, and the AFC South is a very winnable division. They still have both games against the Jacksonville Jaguars remaining, they still play the Colts again and they still have a defense that can swing games. 

It's not a great spot to be in, but it is not yet game over for the season. They know they can dig themselves out of situations like this. They probably just did not want to have to do it again.