The Houston Texans faced the Detroit Lions in Week 10, ultimately losing on a last-second field goal, 26-23. The Texans fell to 6-4 with the loss, but they still have a big lead in the AFC South.
However, there is always blame to go around following a loss, especially when the other team won despite throwing five interceptions on the night. Who’s to blame, after all?
Who’s to blame for Texans’ loss to the Lions?
Frequently you can place blame on either the offense or the defense following a loss. However, for the Texans, some players shined on both sides of the ball and some struggled on both. So, the blame isn’t specific to either side, but rather both sides.
Quarterback C.J. Stroud
In many situations when a team loses, there is blame to be placed on the quarterback. However, that isn’t always the case, as it is a team sport after all. The thing is, Stroud was a big part of the Texans’ problem on Sunday night.
Statistically, Stroud finished the night passing 19-of-33 for 232 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. His Pro Football Focus grade, on the other hand, was where it gets worse, earning a 56.3 offensive grade.
He did make a handful of impressive throws, including one for a touchdown just before the half to put the Texans up 23-7. That was where it ended, though. On just the first play of the second half, Stroud threw an interception to Carlton Davis III. Even worse, later in the half Stroud had a wide open Tank Dell in the endzone. But he floated the ball too much, allowing the trailing defensive back to recover and run under it and intercept it, keeping Detroit in the game.
Stroud and the Texans’ offense got a chance late in the game to take the lead after the Lions tied it. But they were unable to move into safe field goal range, leading to a missed 58-yard field goal by Ka’imi Fairbairn.
Running back Joe Mixon
The skill players as a whole weren’t an issue for Houston, but their lead running back Joe Mixon was. On the night, he had 25 carries and totaled only 46 yards, a 1.8-yard average. He did, however, score a touchdown.
Mixon had a 52.3 grade , according to PFF, which included a 44.2 pass-blocking grade and a 51.1 run grade. Mixon’s grade was good for this second worst of the season, only ahead of his 51.9 grade against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 8.
Simply, he didn’t get it done on the ground and it limited the Texans’ ability to run the game out at the end, letting the Lions have enough time to come back and win it. His pass blocking also gave Stroud trouble with added pressure.
Defensive Line
The Texans’ secondary played a great game, snagging five interceptions, courtesy of Jared Goff. However, the team’s defense did have one weakness – run defense. Specifically, run defense from the interior of Houston’s defensive line.
The two Texans starting defensive tackles (Folorunso Fatukasi and Tim Settle) recorded two of the worst grades on the team, 29.7 and 37.3 grades respectively. More specifically, they received 30.4 and 31.1 run defense grades respectively, according to PFF,
The poor run defense from those two resulted in big games from both Lions’ running backs. Jahmyr Gibbs notched 71 yards on 19 carries and David Montgomery had 32 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries.
