With a 36-7 drubbing by the Chicago Bears on Sunday, the Houston Texans officially fell out of playoff contention with only three games remaining in the 2020 season.

While Chicago improved to 6-7 with the win, Houston fell to 4-9 overall and broke a streak of two straight seasons with 10-plus wins.

The host Bears scored touchdowns on four of six first-half possessions – and recorded a sack of Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson in the end zone for a safety – to hold a 30-7 lead at intermission. Interim head coach Romeo Crennel understands Watson can’t be pressured and hit as much as he was and still be successful.

“We didn’t protect him well enough so he took some hits, and we don’t like to see him take hits, but hits are part of the game. He’s a competitor and he wants to try to win every play, every snap, every game and that’s what we were trying to do, particularly when we got behind pretty early in the game,” Crennel said.

Without top wide receivers Will Fuller V (suspension) and Brandin Cooks (injury), it was Keke Coutee who once again stepped up and caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Watson as part of a 3-catch, 24-yard performance. However, it was Chad Hansen – who was recently elevated from the practice squad and registered five catches and 101 yards last week against Indianapolis – that led the receivers with seven catches for 56 yards in just his second game of the season. Still, the signal-caller knows the musical chair rotation on offense hasn’t helped things the past two games.

“It’s hard for guys to get rhythm, especially on the O-line. They’ve got to learn how to – this guy is going to sit and this guy is going to pass off games and different things like that. I’m assuming that it’s tough for those guys up there to try to figure things out,” Watson said. “At the receiver, just things happen, second game with some new receivers, and we tried to make some things happen, and it just didn’t go our way.”

Also missing from the offense was running back David Johnson who was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list shortly before the game which gave way for Buddy Howell – who had been used mainly on special teams – to lead the run game with 42 yards on 11 carries.

“It was close contact. That’s why he was on the list,” Crennel said of Johnson. “Hopefully he’ll be back because it’s a five-day deal, so he should be back getting ready for the next game. When you lose your ability guys, then you try to replace them as best you can. Buddy came in and did a pretty decent job running the ball today, so that’s what we have to do.”

Altogether, Crennel didn’t see the same spark from the team that he had seen.

“It was uninspired,” he said of the effort Sunday in Chicago. “We didn’t have the energy that we have been having the last couple weeks. I don’t know why or what it was but that will, that attitude the last couple weeks that we’ve played with, we didn’t have that today.”

This Sunday, Houston will travel to Indianapolis to wrap up the season series against the Colts (9-4) before hosting the Cincinnati Bengals (2-10) and Tennessee Titans (9-4) the following two weeks to close the regular season. The Texans remain third in the AFC South ahead of the Jacksonville Jaguars (1-12).