| Team: | Houston Texans |
| Year: | 2013 |
| Record: | 2–14 |
| Division Place: | 4th AFC South |
| Coach: | Gary Kubiak (fired on December 6, 2–11 record) Wade Phillips (Interim during Week 10 while Kubiak recovered from a mini-stroke; Interim from Weeks 15–17, 0–3 record) |
| Off Coach: | Rick Dennison |
| Def Coach: | Wade Phillips |
| Owner: | Bob McNair |
| General Manager: | Rick Smith |
| Stadium: | Reliant Stadium |
| Uniform: | File:Houston texans unif.png |
| Playoffs: | Did not qualify |
| Shortnavlink: | Texans seasons |
The 2013 Houston Texans season was the franchise's 12th season in the National Football League (NFL). The Texans failed to improve upon their 12–4 record from 2012, suffering through a season-ending 14-game losing streak following a 2–0 start and missing the playoffs for the first time since 2010. Head coach Gary Kubiak was fired after eight seasons following their eleventh loss (Week 14 vs. the Jacksonville Jaguars). Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips was named the interim head coach for the final three games of the season. Out of the 14 games lose by the Texans this year, 9 of them were by one score, marking a record amount of one score losses for the franchise. Their 14-game losing streak is the worst in team history.[1] Coming off a franchise-best 12–4 record just the year before, the Texans tie a league record with the Houston Oilers (who, coincidentally, also went 12–4 in 1993 and 2–14 in 1994) for the biggest season-to-season decline in win total. On January 3, 2014, claiming that "I'm ready to kick 2013 the hell out the door", Texans owner Robert McNair announced that former Penn State head coach Bill O'Brien would be the Texans' third head coach.[2]
Draft trades
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Recap | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | at Minnesota Vikings | W 27–13 | 1–0 | Mall of America Field | Recap | ||
| 2 | Miami Dolphins | W 24–17 | 2–0 | Reliant Stadium | Recap | ||
| 3 | August 25 | New Orleans Saints | L 23–31 | 2–1 | Reliant Stadium | Recap | |
| 4 | at Dallas Cowboys | W 24–6 | 3–1 | AT&T Stadium | Recap |
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Recap | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | at San Diego Chargers | W 31–28 | 1–0 | Qualcomm Stadium | Recap | ||
| 2 | September 15 | Tennessee Titans | W 30–24 | 2–0 | Reliant Stadium | Recap | |
| 3 | September 22 | at Baltimore Ravens | L 9–30 | 2–1 | M&T Bank Stadium | Recap | |
| 4 | September 29 | Seattle Seahawks | L 20–23 | 2–2 | Reliant Stadium | Recap | |
| 5 | October 6 | at San Francisco 49ers | L 3–34 | 2–3 | Candlestick Park | Recap | |
| 6 | October 13 | St. Louis Rams | L 13–38 | 2–4 | Reliant Stadium | Recap | |
| 7 | October 20 | at Kansas City Chiefs | L 16–17 | 2–5 | Arrowhead Stadium | Recap | |
| 8 | Bye | ||||||
| 9 | November 3 | Indianapolis Colts | L 24–27 | 2–6 | Reliant Stadium | Recap | |
| 10 | November 10 | at Arizona Cardinals | L 24–27 | 2–7 | University of Phoenix Stadium | Recap | |
| 11 | November 17 | Oakland Raiders | L 23–28 | 2–8 | Reliant Stadium | Recap | |
| 12 | November 24 | Jacksonville Jaguars | L 6–13 | 2–9 | Reliant Stadium | Recap | |
| 13 | December 1 | New England Patriots | L 31–34 | 2–10 | Reliant Stadium | Recap | |
| 14 | at Jacksonville Jaguars | L 20–27 | 2–11 | EverBank Field | Recap | ||
| 15 | December 15 | at Indianapolis Colts | L 3–25 | 2–12 | Lucas Oil Stadium | Recap | |
| 16 | December 22 | Denver Broncos | L 13–37 | 2–13 | Reliant Stadium | Recap | |
| 17 | December 29 | at Tennessee Titans | L 10–16 | 2–14 | LP Field | Recap | |
The Texans won their fourth straight regular season opener and picked up their first franchise victory against the San Diego Chargers, improving to 1–4 against them on the late game of ESPN's Week 1 Monday Night Football doubleheader. San Diego scored 4 times compared to Houston's 1 to take a 28–7 3rd quarter lead before Houston scored 24 straight points to win 31–28.
With the OT win, the Texans improved to 2–0 for the 4th straight year. In a hard-fought defensive battle, Tennessee built up a lead as big as 24–16 before Houston sent it to overtime behind Arian Foster's TD run and 2-point conversion with 1:53 to go in regulation. DeAndre Hopkins caught his first career touchdown, which was the game-winning touchdown to give the Texans the 30–24 win. If not for this overtime victory, the 2013 Texans would've became the first team since the 2001 Carolina Panthers to win their opener and lose the remainder of their games.
The Texans' 14-game losing streak started in Baltimore, where the Ravens pummeled Houston, 30–9. The Texans fell to 2–1. After Houston grabbed a 6–3 lead, the Ravens got a pick-six and a punt return for a touchdown to make it 17–6. Baltimore outscored Houston in the second half 13–3 en route to a 30–9 win.
After falling behind 3–0 at the end of the first quarter, the Texans scored 20 unanswered to build up a 20–3 halftime lead. But with a 20–6 fourth quarter lead, Houston gave up two touchdowns, including a pick-six by Richard Sherman to tie the game at 20. The Seahawks won in overtime 23–20 on Steven Hauschka's 45-yard field goal with 3:23 to go in OT. With the surprising loss, the Texans fell to 2–2.
Matt Schaub threw another pick-six in a blowout loss to the 49ers. The final was 34–3 and the Texans fell to 2–3.
St. Louis had 2 straight defensive touchdowns and they dominated Houston 38–13. Houston dropped to 2–4.
Case Keenum got the start in a game that ended with Houston losing 17–16 to Kansas City. They would drop to 2–5.
Arizona dominated the second half in a 27–24 win. Houston dropped to 2–7
The Texans had a lead as much as 17–7 at the half, but fell 34–31 to the Patriots to match their combined number of losses from the previous two seasons (10).
With the Texans dropping to 2–11, Houston was swept by the Jaguars for the first time since 2009.
With the loss to Tennessee, Houston lost 14 straight games to close out a disappointing season.
The Texans 14 game losing streak has matched the 1980 Saints and the 1976 Buccaneers.
| Category | Total yards | Yards per game | NFL rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passing offense | 3,813 | 238.3 | 15th | |
| Rushing offense | 1,743 | 108.9 | 21st | |
| Total offense[3] | 5,556 | 347.3 | 11th | |
| Passing defense | 3,123 | 195.2 | 3rd | |
| Rushing defense | 1,958 | 122.4 | 23rd | |
| Total defense[4] | 5,081 | 317.6 | 7th |
| Category | Player | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Offense | |||
| Passing yards | 2,310 | ||
| Passing touchdowns | Matt Schaub | 10 | |
| Rushing yards | 771 | ||
| Rushing touchdowns | Ben Tate | 4 | |
| Receiving yards | 1,407 | ||
| Receiving touchdowns | Andre Johnson | 5 | |
| Defense | |||
| Tackles | 65 | ||
| Sacks | J. J. Watt | 10.5 | |
| Interceptions | 3 | ||