That’s a hard loss to come back from if you’re the Houston Texans. Sure, the 9-7 Texans are still the winners of the NFC South, and sure, they’ll still make the 2024 NFL Playoffs because of that. Losing to the Baltimore Ravens, 31-2, at home on Christmas Day is a tough look for the Texans, though.
Again, this is a playoff team, and anything can happen once you get in the dance. With that said, the Texans were thought to be a legitimate Super Bowl contender this preseason thanks to their young and talented roster and the emergence of C.J. Stroud as one of the NFL’s next great quarterbacks. Those are, at least, the expectations his tremendous rookie season brought to the table.
It’s important to keep harping on the fact that the Texans can still turn this thing around and make a run, but facing a — for real — Super Bowl contender in the Ravens with the national spotlight on them, they got blown out in epic fashion. To make things worse, it was Houston’s second-straight loss, with the one in Week 16 being a 27-19 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Two weeks in a row, the Texans have faced AFC contenders and came away on the losing side of things. That’s not good news for those hoping they’ll get it done in the playoffs, but for now, let’s focus on this demoralizing loss to the Ravens. Here’s who is most to blame.
C.J. Stroud had a downright awful game for the Texans
It’s been a tough go for Stroud over these past two games, but he at least threw two touchdown passes in the loss to the Chiefs. Stroud and the Texan’s offense, as a result, was downright ineffective against the Ravens, though. He completed just 17-of-31 passes for 185 yards, meaning he completed just 54.8 percent of his passes.
Stroud was also intercepted by Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton on what was a terrible underthrow into triple coverage. To his credit, Stroud did take the blame for the loss when talking to the media after the game. When there’s not much to show on the field, he, as a young quarterback, is still acting like a leader.
“Terrible on my behalf. Probably one of the worst games of my whole career. Came out flat, didn’t have any energy, just didn’t lead the offense the way I should’ve,” Mixon said via Houston media member Adam Wexler on X. “Always got to look at myself in the mirror and be honest with myself. Just not good enough today. It is what it is. Can’t hang my head down, but just got to keep going.”
Stroud is right in saying that he just wasn’t good enough against the Ravens. Hardly anybody on the Texans’ sideline was, but as the quarterback, he’ll always be the one taking most of the blame.
Joe Mixon wasn’t able to get going for the third-straight week
Joe Mixon’s tough running ability was one of the main reasons for the Texans’ success earlier this season. He notched a rushing touchdown in six-straight games from October 13th to November 18th, and he was a massive part of Houston’s offense.
A strong running game always makes things easier for a quarterback — especially when that quarterback is young and taking his lumps — so the importance of Mixon’s ability to find the end zone for the Texans couldn’t have been overstated during that run.
The issue is this: Mixon has only found the end zone one since that six-game stretch, and after the loss to the Ravens, he’s now gone three straight games without a rushing touchdown. It’s one thing if you’re running hard and eating up yards and just not getting into the end zone. It’s something else altogether, though, when you’re just not effective as a running back.
Unfortunately for the Texans, the latter was true of Mixon against the Ravens. He only rushed the ball nine times due to Houston being down for most of the game, and he turned those nine touches into just 26 yards on 2.9 yards per carry.
DeMeco Ryans’ Texans defense failed against the Ravens
DeMeco Ryans is a defensive head coach, stemming from both his time in the NFL as a hard-hitting linebacker and then later as the defensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers. The Texans hired him for his energy and ability to connect with players, yes, but also because of the defensive coaching prowess he displayed while in San Francisco.
Unfortunately, none of that was on display against the Ravens, and everyone who tuned in on Netflix on Christmas morning saw that in live and living color. The Texans’ run defense allowed Derrick Henry to rush for 147 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries (that’s a more than-healthy 5.4 yards per carry). Lamar Jackson threw for 168 yards and two touchdowns on 11.2 yards per throw, and he also rushed 87 yards and a touchdown. The 48-yard touchdown scamper was the fastest of his incredible career, but the Texans were so woeful that Jackson joked that he was “jogging” after the game.
Ryans’ defense gave up 432 total yards on 7.1 yards per play. That’s a first down every other play. The Ravens won the time of possession battle by over ten minutes, 35:21 to 24:39, which all points to the Texans playing one of the worst defensive games of the 2024 season.
That’s the type of performance Ryans just can’t have as a so-called defensive guy, so he, along with his players, will have to take a look in the mirror — and he knows it.
“We’ll take the next couple of days here to look at everything, starting with myself,” Ryans said after the game, according to the team website. “Everything starts with me. But as a team, we just stay together, figure out a way to come out playing better football.”
