A new era of Houston Texans football kicked off over the weekend with DeMeco Ryans and company falling short against the Baltimore Ravens on the road.

While the outcome wasn't what the team and fans wanted, there were some positives to take away from the contest. Despite an abundance of injuries to the Texans in the preseason, the team was able to keep things close, with the Ravens up 7-6 at halftime.

The start of the third quarter is when things started going sideways for Houston. At this point in the game, both of the Texans backup safeties were in the game with Jimmy Ward ruled out earlier in the week, and Jalen Pitre leaving the game with a bruised lung right before halftime.

The Ravens capitalized, getting their run game going and eventually winning the game 25-9. The Texans couldn't get anything going on offense, with the running game struggling and CJ Stroud taking big sacks in crucial situations.

Texans running back Dameon Pierce only had 13 touches over the course of the game, with Mike Boone getting work on third down, and Devin Singletary adding 7 rushes for 15 yards. This felt all too familiar with Pierce. He was limited to 12 touches in the season opener last season, with Rex Burkhead get way more opportunities.

While the Texans don't want to run Pierce into the ground, 13 total touches in Week 1 doesn't seem like enough. And not having one of your best weapons on the field on third down, feels like a mistake.

Finally, we discuss some encouraging flashes from Texans rookie pass rusher, Will Anderson.

Be sure to watch the video above as we share our top takeaways from the game, and examine the areas the Texans can improve on before facing the Colts at NRG this Sunday.

Catch Texans on Tap (A Houston Texans podcast) every Monday on YouTube!