Bill O’Brien says Texans have a lot to fix after Week 1 loss to Chiefs: ‘We have to improve very quickly’

The Houston Texans were no match for the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs in Thursday night’s 2020 opener, surrendering 31 unanswered points and ultimately falling 34-20 less than a year after blowing a 24-point lead to K.C. in the 2019 playoffs. Pressed for answers following Thursday’s Week 1 defeat, Texans coach Bill O’Brien was upfront about the state of the team.

“There’s a lot to fix,” he said, per the Houston Chronicle. “We have a long way to go here, obviously.”

And that includes pretty much every facet of the game, O’Brien conceded. Despite taking a 7-0 lead on Thursday night, Houston ultimately allowed Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes to throw three touchdowns and rookie running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire to rush for nearly 140 yards, all while sputtering on their own downfield passing game.

The NFL opener saw the Chiefs pick up right where they left off, and there’s a lot to go over. John Breech, Ryan Wilson and host Will Brinson break it all down on the Pick Six Podcast; listen below and be sure to subscribe here for daily NFL goodness. 

“There is not much more you can say,” O’Brien told reporters afterward. “We had trouble stopping the run, had trouble getting off the field. We sustained the second drive of the game for a touchdown, but then we could not sustain a couple of drives there. Our defense could not get off the field, so we got down … We did come back at the end, but it was too little, too late. There is a lot to build on, but it is obviously not where you want to be. We have to improve very quickly this week.”

O’Brien is right. The Texans (0-1) don’t necessarily have it any easier over the next few weeks. They’ll host the Baltimore Ravens in Week 2, then travel to play the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 3 before closing the first quarter of their schedule against the Minnesota Vikings.