Texans look to clean up mistakes after opening season 2-0 for first time since 2016

HOUSTON (AP) — Though they have plenty of work to do, the Houston Texans are feeling good about their 2-0 start after dropping their first two games last season.

The Texans scored just three points after halftime Sunday night, but a smothering defensive performance allowed them to hold on for a 19-13 win over the Bears. The victory has them in early control in the AFC South after the Colts, Titans and Jaguars have all opened the season 0-2.

It’s the first time since 2016 that Houston has won its first two games.

“I definitely know that Texans football was not what we put on the field (Sunday), at least in the second half,” quarterback C.J. Stroud said. “We’ll definitely be better, for sure."

Stroud threw for 260 yards and a touchdown, but the Texans punted on five of their seven possessions in the second half and fumbled on another drive. Their only points after halftime came on a field goal early in the fourth quarter.

“Second half we were just flat,” Stroud said. “Just needed a big play or just needed (to) stack plays really. We just couldn’t find our rhythm.”

One thing that slowed the Texans on Sunday was their inability to run the ball effectively. Houston managed just 75 yards rushing against the Bears after leading the NFL with 213 yards in Week 1.

“They had a lot of penetration,” coach DeMeco Ryans said. “We weren’t able to have the lanes that we had the previous weeks. Something we have to clean up on the offensive side and make sure we just continue to get a head on the hat no matter what they show us.”

The running game was slowed because of an ankle injury to Joe Mixon, who had 159 yards rushing in the opener. He was injured early in the third quarter and returned near the end of the period, but had just two carries for 5 yards the rest of the game as he dealt with the injury. He finished with nine carries for 25 yards.

Ryans said that Mixon got “rolled up” and that it’s too early to know if he’ll play next week.

The Texans were relentless in their pressure on rookie quarterback Caleb Williams Sunday night. Houston pressured Williams, the top overall pick in the draft, on 36 of his 37 pass attempts, according to NextGenStats.

Defensive ends Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter combined for 17 pressures and the Texans piled up seven sacks, which is tied for the second most in franchise history.

Houston had six different players with a sack Sunday night and the team’s nine sacks through two games ranks second in the NFL behind Minnesota’s 11 entering Monday.

The Texans must get their running game back on track next week, which will be a tough task if Mixon can’t play. They could be without their top two running backs Sunday with Dameon Pierce dealing with a hamstring injury that kept him out of the game against Chicago.

K Ka′imi Fairbairn has been great this season, with Ryans crediting him for Sunday night’s win. He was 4-for-4 against the Bears, making kicks of 59, 56, 53 and 47 yards. He also made three field goals of 50-plus yards in Week 1 to become the first kicker in NFL history to make five or more field goals of 50 yards or longer in a two-game span.

His 59-yard field goal on Sunday night was the second-longest in franchise history behind a 61-yard kick he made in 2021.

“He’s been consistent,” Ryans said. “He’s on it. He’s the reason why we’re standing here. We talk a lot about offense and defense (but) the kicking game is the reason why we won this game.”

RB Cam Akers. Pushed into action because of injuries, Akers fumbled on the Chicago 4 with about 6½ minutes left Sunday. The Bears recovered the ball and it led to a field goal that got them within a score with less than three minutes left.

Mixon and Pierce are the main injuries the team is dealing with this week.

252 — Entering Monday, wide receiver Nico Collins leads the NFL with 252 yards receiving, which is the second most in franchise history in the first two games of a season. Collins, who had a career-high 1,297 yards receiving last season, had 135 yards receiving and a touchdown Sunday night for the seventh 100-yard game of his career.

Stroud and Houston’s offense will look to clean up their play and move the ball more effectively when they face an early test in a visit to the Minnesota Vikings, who are also 2-0, on Sunday.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Houston Texans wide receiver Nico Collins (12) is congratulated by Stefon Diggs (1) after catching a touchdown pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

Houston Texans kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn (15) is congratulated by teammate Tommy Townsend (6) after making a 47-yard field goal during the first half of an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud (7) throws under pressure from Chicago Bears defensive lineman Montez Sweat (98) and defensive lineman Zacch Pickens, right, during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Work on the presidential inauguration platform began Wednesday at the U.S. Capitol with congressional leaders pounding the first ceremonial nails into a stage they cast as a symbol of America's commitment to the peaceful transfer of power — a tradition that was almost upended in 2021 when Donald Trump's supporters violently stormed the Capitol.

As Republican and Democratic leaders gathered in a moment of bipartisanship with Washington’s National Mall spread before them, no direct mention was made of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack where Trump’s supporters used pipes, lumber and other materials from the inauguration stage to attack law enforcement and halt the certification of the election.

But memories of that day, and heightened worries about violence in this year's tense election season after the latest apparent assassination attempt against Trump, shadowed the event.

“These workers will literally set the stage for the peaceful transfer of power,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the Minnesota Democrat who chairs the joint committee overseeing preparations for the inauguration.

Preparations for the last inauguration became an integral part of the violence that unfolded at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, with rioters swarming the stage and the tall press platform that stands in front of it during their siege of the building.

Workers who were putting finishing touches on the structure had to flee that morning as rioters closed in. They later had to clean up the debris and rebuild parts of the stage for President Joe Biden's inauguration two weeks later.

Klobuchar, flanked by construction workers in hard hats and reflective vests, cast the presidential inauguration next year as an opportunity to “celebrate our democracy and the sacred values that tie us together as a nation.”

Adding to the symbolism, the six congressional leaders noted the event also coincided with the anniversary of George Washington laying the cornerstone of the Capitol.

Lawmakers hammered a handful of the roughly 500,000 nails that will hold the stage together. House Republican Leader Steve Scalise took to the task eagerly, using his left hand to finish ahead of his colleagues, while Klobuchar finished the ceremony with gusto, banging her hammer with a smile and a laugh.

When finished for the Jan. 20 ceremony, the platform will hold nearly 1,600 people — the president and vice president-elect, past presidents, foreign dignitaries, Supreme Court justices and congressional leaders — to mark the beginning of a new administration.

Above the ceremony, five American flags will fly. One will be the current flag, two have 13 stars for the original colonies, and two hold the number of stars as when the president's home state was admitted to the union.

There will either be a 31-star flag for Vice President Kamala Harris's California or a 27-star flag for Trump's Florida. And the next president will either be the first Black woman and the first South Asian American to serve as president or just the second to succeed in a comeback bid to the White House.

Associated Press photographer J. Scott Applewhite contributed to this report.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., poses for a photo to the First Nail Ceremony marking the beginning of construction of the 2025 Presidential Inauguration platform, on the steps of the Capitol, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

Tyler Smith, a woodcrafter with the Architect of the Capitol, and Herbert Melgar, a painter, measure out the nail placement for Congress members to hammer for the First Nail Ceremony marking the beginning of construction of the 2025 Presidential Inauguration platform at the Capitol, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

Congress members hammer in the first nails at the First Nail Ceremony marking the beginning of construction of the 2025 Presidential Inauguration platform on the steps of the Capitol, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., right and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., are seen after the First Nail Ceremony marking the beginning of construction of the 2025 Presidential Inauguration platform, on the steps of the Capitol, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

Congress members hammer in the first nails at the First Nail Ceremony marking the beginning of construction of the 2025 Presidential Inauguration platform on the steps of the Capitol, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

From left, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., arrive to the First Nail Ceremony marking the beginning of construction of the 2025 Presidential Inauguration platform, on the steps of the Capitol, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)