HOUSTON -- On Sunday, after the Houston Texans lost for the third consecutive week, quarterback Deshaun Watson was asked if there was any panic in the team after the 0-3 start. Watson didn’t hesitate.

“Nah,” he said. “There’s no panic.”

One of the reasons the Texans can remain calm despite the winless start? They’ve been there before, and it wasn’t a long time ago. In 2018, Houston started 0-3 before winning nine straight games and eventually winning the AFC South. But that is rare. In the Super Bowl era, only seven teams have gone winless through three games and made the playoffs. Only one team has done that in the last 10 years: the Texans.

Texans coach Bill O’Brien was quick to point out that “every year is different” and that it’s hard to compare the two teams' 0-3 starts. He thinks the veteran-heavy Texans aren’t panicking, rather the Texans will feel a sense of urgency to turn the season around.

“Everybody knows 0-3 is not where we want to be,” O’Brien said. “It's urgency more so than panic. There is no panic. It's just we've got to get over the hump here somehow.”

The Texans have faced the NFL’s toughest schedule so far this season, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Houston opened up against the top two teams in the league, according to FPI (Ravens and Chiefs), and then faced the Steelers (12th in FPI) in Week 3. Based on pregame win probability, these are the toughest three games Houston will play all season (23% chance to beat Chiefs, 31% to beat Ravens, 33% to beat Steelers). After this week, the Texans’ toughest remaining game won’t come until Week 15 at Indianapolis (37% chance to win).

ESPN analytics gives the Texans a 9.1% chance to make the playoffs.

“We're going to have film to watch of this game to get better and we'll have Vikings film to watch for next week, and Wednesday we're going to have practices,” defensive end J.J. Watt said. “So, I mean, you don't have any choice but to come in and try and improve and get better. I don't know what the alternative to that would be. If you're not interested in getting better and finding ways to get better, then you're probably in the wrong profession and you shouldn't be in sports.

“That's what this job is. It's finding a way every day to get better, every week to get better, and right now we need to do that in a hurry.”

One difference this year compared to Houston’s last 0-3 start is that through three winless games, the Texans are also three games behind in the AFC South. In 2018, the then-first place Titans were 2-1. Now they’re three games behind Tennessee and regardless of how these next two games go for either team, when the division rivals play in Week 6, the Titans will be ahead.

There is some reason for optimism in Houston. Not only have the Texans not played a divisional opponent, but this year’s expanded playoff field gives them another shot at a spot in the postseason. And even though Watson had a slow start to the season -- and a slow second half in Pittsburgh, where the Texans were shut out for the first time in the second half in the past three seasons -- he is still the best quarterback in the AFC South. Having six remaining divisional games also gives Houston a big chance to make up ground.

The Texans have been here before, and even though following the same blueprint might not be as easy three years later, Watson, who was in his second season in 2018, knows all too well that nothing has been decided yet.

“We got a lot more football to go,” Watson said. “We have 13 more games, so who knows what can happen in 13 more games? We haven’t even played our divisional teams. There’s a lot of opportunities out there. We’ve got to keep building and keep pushing forward. I can’t let myself get discouraged. Every week is a new week.

“Now we’re sitting at 0-3, but at the end of the day, the one thing we can do is try to be 1-0 next week and just keep building.”