Steelers, 28 - Texans, 21
Q. Talk about the fast start you got off to and the way things unfolded in the second half.
DESHAUN WATSON: We just didn't find a balance. We didn't establish a run. We just didn't make enough plays, honestly.
So just that kind of backfired on us, and Pittsburgh made enough plays to score, I think ten points on us in the second half. It just went against us.
Q. Do you feel like the rhythm -- you mentioned this before the game -- do you feel like the rhythm or the chemistry with the receivers -- we did see some advances in that. Do you think that's starting to get where you hope for in the passing game?
DESHAUN WATSON: Yeah, I mean, there are things that -- we're just growing. We keep growing, we keep working, we keep building. You know, whenever we have those opportunities, we took advantage of those, especially in the first half.
We did what we needed to at the time, but we didn't finish it off.
Q. What stress does it put on the offense when you guys are just behind the sticks and facing third and longs?
DESHAUN WATSON: It's tough. I mean, a D-line like that, they can just pin their ears back and just rush; they can drop everyone in coverage and play the sticks.
We got to find the holes and buy some time to let those receivers get the depth that we need. We got to stay out of that. We need to have positive yards on first and second down and get in third and manageable.
Q. Do you feel like there is any panic in your team with the 0-3 start?
DESHAUN WATSON: Nah. There's no panic.
Q. What kind of concerns do you have, if that's the right word, about where your team is sitting at O-3?
DESHAUN WATSON: Yeah, we are what we are. We are 0-3, but there is a lot of positivity in this and we can't dwell on the negativity. There is a lot more football to go. We got 13 more games, so who knows what could happen in 13 mor games. We haven't even played our divisional teams so, you know, that's a lot of opportunities out there. We got to keep building and keep pushing forward.
Why let myself get discouraged. Every week is a new week. We missed out on this week and sitting at 0-3. But at the end of the day, the one thing we can do try to be (indiscernible) next week, and just keep building.
Q. How tough has it been for you to work around the pressure? You got sacked bunch. A lot of hurries again today.
DESHAUN WATSON: I just try to make plays as much as I can. That's what they pay me for, to make plays and make good decisions. I tried to make a play towards the end I think in the fourth quarter; made one earlier in the drive and it was third and long again, and, you know, tried to make a play. Mike Hilton did a good job getting in front of Kenny.
Really was trying to throw to Will, but it slipped out when I was getting hit and it sailed and was going toward Kenny and Mick Hilton made a good play.
We can kind of consider that as punt, because if he would've dropped it we would've probably would've punted it from to the 50. So, yeah, just trying to make plays and do something to make a spark for this team.
Q. What did you see different defensively in the second half? Were they mixing coverages or just getting better push up front?
DESHAUN WATSON: No, yeah, we just -- first and second down they were a little bit better than us. We were behind the sticks the whole second half, which makes it tough.
I think the stat was 17 yards in the third quarter, which is not -- you can't win games like that. We got to help our defense out and create yardage and keep them off the field as much as possible.
Q. That make it even tougher to swallow because things went so well in the first half offensively?
DESHAUN WATSON: Yeah, we just got to continue to -- you know, the success that we had, we got to -- especially after halftime, it's a new half, it's 0-0. We got to learn from this it mistake and we got to have some positivity, especially in the third quarter.
Q. You've seemed to do really well, especially early in had the game when the play would break down, and just speak to how you're seeing things down field and just kind of keeping your eyes up down field when things aren't going so well.
DESHAUN WATSON: I mean, yeah, just like I said earlier, just really just trying to make a play. Sometimes my instincts take over and play is good; sometimes it backfires. Yeah, I just try to do what I can to get a spark for this team.
A lot of guys in this locker room have a lot of trust and faith in what I'm doing, and so I do the same thing, and sometimes it works and sometimes it don't.
But at the same time, I just try to do the best I can to have some success for this offense.
Q. What do you feel like it's going to take to get this turned around, and I'm talking about offensively, to kind of be able to put a full game together?
DESHAUN WATSON: Consistency. Just got to do it all four quarters, honestly. Starts with me, starting Timmy. You know, we got to come together and figure out what we can do consistently and keep building from it.
We're going to keep doing and that keep growing and it really just starts with me as a quarterback making sure that I'm talking to him, communicating with him, and the guys upstairs in the box that's seeing the defense and the strategies they're trying to do, especially in the second half.
Yeah, just got to continue to have consistency, what we built on from the first half.
Q. You mentioned consistency being the key, so I won't ask you about that. You also have seen this team have slow starts before. Can you talk about what you can say to your team about how you turned it around in the past? I know it's a new year, but you have experienced it before.
DESHAUN WATSON: Yeah, this is a place and position that we never -- we don't want to be in, we got to dig ourself out of it. But I think the difference was when we had I think 0-4 start couple years ago where we played some divisional teams. We played three AFC teams, which is something that we want to win those games, but the playoffs go through divisionals.
If you can win the division and have an opportunity get a wildcard, and that's down the road, but I'm speaking on things at the start. We have opportunity. We played three great teams three weeks in a row and we got tested; just came up short.
We can't make the mistakes that we made and we can't have that little lull in the middle of the game. Those great teams like the three teams that we played sitting here undefeated, will take advantage of that. We just got to build on this and turn that around.
Q. Want to ask you what you thought the TJ Watt as a competitor? And also, given how tough (indiscernible) you anticipated being with them being top ranked run defense, was there any thought to passing more? We talk about balance, but maybe not being balanced and going with a more pass-heavy attack.
DESHAUN WATSON: You got to run the ball regardless of what the defense -- you know what I'm saying? You got to a balance. You can't just sit there and pass. Now you're giving them opportunities to rush the whole time.
You got to have the balance between run and pass. We didn't have that, especially in the second half. Made it a little bit more tough. Yeah, TJ Watt is just like his brother: A competitor, going to compete each and every play. I respect his game and the way he challenged our offense. He's a great player for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports