HOUSTON — With losses in four of their past five games – all to teams favored to defeat them – the Houston Texans take a 4-5 record into their bye week.

Their most recent defeat, 31-21 to the Philadelphia Eagles at NRG Stadium on Sunday, has increased the criticism of starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and the demands by fans and media for him to be benched and replaced by backup Ryan Mallett.

Mallett has done nothing to show that he can be any more successful than Fitzpatrick, but coach Bill O’Brien said after the Eagles game he had to find an offensive “spark.” When asked about a possible change at quarterback, he didn’t rule it out. He said that quarterback, like every position, would be evaluated during the bye week before they return to play at Cleveland.

“I think we have to evaluate everything,” O’Brien said. “It’s not anything we’ve come to a decision on at this point. We’re going to keep talking. We’re going to keep watching tape.

“I think we have to evaluate everything. I don’t think you can look at one position and put all the blame on that. If the blame is pinpointed anywhere, the blame is pinpointed here.”

In other words, at the head coach.

In the loss to Philadelphia, Fitzpatrick was 13 of 27 for 203 yards and two touchdowns. He threw one interception and was sacked four times. He also ran for 49 yards – the most by a Texans quarterback since 2003.

For the season, Fitzpatrick has 11 touchdowns, eight interceptions and an 87.1 rating.

But the offense continues to struggle with inconsistency and a lack of productivity from start to finish. Fitzpatrick misfires with receivers and doesn’t see others who are open. He doesn’t utilize the middle of the field or his tight ends. He throws a lot of passes that could be intercepted.

Fitzpatrick was asked how he would react if O’Brien told him he was going with Mallett?

“I don’t live in a hypothetical world,” Fitzpatrick said.

At this point, if O’Brien knows, he’s not telling. All anyone knows for sure is that rookie Tom Savage remains the third quarterback.

REPORT CARD VS. EAGLES

PASSING OFFENSE: C – Ryan Fitzpatrick continues to be far too inconsistent with his accuracy. He completed 13 of 27 passes for 203 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. But it’s difficult to understand why he only found Andre Johnson twice for 12 yards. DeAndre Hopkins led the team with six catches for 115 yards and a touchdown.

RUSHING OFFENSE: C – The Eagles limited Arian Foster to 56 yards on 15 carries before he left with a groin injury, ending his chance at a fifth consecutive 100-yard game. Ryan Fitzpatrick ran eight times for 49 yards. He helped them average 4.2 a carry. The run blocking was sporadic. The Eagles stacked the box at times and blitzed the run at other times.

PASS DEFENSE: C – Starting cornerbacks Kareem Jackson (knee) and Johnathan Joseph (concussion) were lost in the first half. That left the secondary with three active corners in A.J. Bouye, undrafted last year; Andre Hal, a seventh-round pick this year; and Jumal Rolle, signed off Green Bay’s practice squad last week. Hal was beaten for two touchdown passes. They allowed quarterbacks Nick Foles and Mark Sanchez to combine for 326 yards. But they intercepted three passes, two by Rolle. Bouye returned a Foles interception 51 yards for a touchdown. They got good pressure on the quarterbacks. Whitney Mercilus had two sacks and J.J. Watt 1.5.

RUSH DEFENSE: F – In October, the Texans ranked fourth against the run, allowing 86 yards a game. They surrendered 112 in the last two games. But the Eagles gouged them for 190, including 117 by LeSean McCoy. The Texans didn’t do a good job of keeping McCoy and Chris Polk (50 yards) from bouncing outside when the middle was clogged. The Eagles ran 40 times and averaged 4.8 yards a carry.

SPECIAL TEAMS: C-minus – They did a good job on coverage against the league’s best return team. The Texans returned only two kickoffs for an 18-yard average but failed to return a punt. Randy Bullock missed a 39-yard field goal that would have tied the game late in the third quarter. Shane Lechler had a 48.2-yard gross and a 40.3 net.

COACHING: C – The Texans were three-point underdogs. They had chances to tie the score in the third and fourth quarters and blew both of them. They lost for the first time in team history when they were plus-3 in turnover ratio. They lost for the second time this season when they were plus-2 in turnover ratio. They keep coming close, but they couldn’t overcome the loss of cornerbacks Johnathan Joseph and Kareem Jackson.