The Houston Texans lost a winnable game against the Tennessee Titans in Week 12, 32-27. In fact, it was their fourth loss in their last six games. How are the 7-5 Texans still a Super Bowl contender, as basement dwellers like the Titans and New York Jets have beat them on the road and at home?
There’s no mantle at any NFL stadium for the best team in September, October or November. Nobody congratulates the New England Patriots for going 16-0 in 2007. Sure, Houston probably has no great excuses for losing winnable games.
Some might point out that Stefon Diggs hasn’t played in about a month after a season-ending ACL injury. Losing him also overlapped with Nico Collins’ hamstring injury, which kept him out five games from Weeks 6 to 10. The Texans lost three of those five games, and maybe the offense got off track from all the injuries and disruptions.
However, if you’ll point the finger and try to nail down the glaring issues, it has to start with the Texans’ safeties. But poor safety play shouldn’t doom teams. The Baltimore Ravens and Minnesota Vikings are both getting torched by wide receivers. They’re still looking like two of the best teams in the league.
Losing Jalen Pitre for multiple weeks will be a big blow to this defense. He suffered a partial pectoral tear. Pitre is one of the most versatile and underappreciated defenders in the league.
But weaknesses paired with a huge number of penalties—Houston’s 11 for 81 yards and two interceptions—aren’t good enough. The Texans had zero rushing first downs against the Titans and were 3-for-13 on third-down conversions.
Head coach DeMeco Ryans is attempting to address some of these issues, like when he spoke about how the team needs to respond to the Pitre injury.
“He’s been a true impact player for us. Just being around the ball. Just causing interceptions, forcing fumbles, he’s just been really active, very instinctive player for us, he’s been all over the field. And he’s made a lot of plays for us. And we’ll just miss his instincts, miss his playmaking ability, we’re going to miss that. So, we’ve got to pick it up and we’ve got to go. We’ve got to move forward. We’ve got to press forward. Whoever else steps in, we’ve got to hit the ground running.”
CJ Stroud must step up to lead Texans offense by example
While the defense is far from perfect, it’s a team effort. And the swings are evident and more pronounced on a downswing.
Sure, ending the game on a safety was an embarrassing way for Stroud and the Texans to lose in Week 12. But the offense’s problems run deeper than that. Plain and simple, defenses adjusted and now respect Stroud’s ability to take the top off a defense. Like Patrick Mahomes learned to adjust, Stroud must too as well as Houston offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik.
While many fans will point to Slowik for not making enough adjustments or putting Stroud in the right position every week, sometimes football is about hitting your opponent in the mouth and wanting it a little more. If the game were just about play calls and football genius, Kyle Shanahan, Mike McDaniel and Sean McVay would run the league. But it’s big attitudes that can win, too, like the Detroit Lions and Dan Campbell.
Stroud must take what the defense is giving him. In games where Joe Mixon isn’t popping off, which is few and far between–but this Titans game is the perfect example–Stroud must live to play another down. This is a 2nd & 10 play where he puts it right in the arms of the opposing defender. This play isn’t 3rd & long with a minute left in the game.
When you pair Stroud’s growing pains with a higher pressure rate—the fourth-highest in the NFL—this is the margin for error that separates last year’s really good team from this year’s good team.
These criticisms don’t mean Stroud is a bad quarterback or even having a sophomore slump. He’s still wheeling and dealing at nearly the same level in Year 2. We simply have to acknowledge that the NFL evolves. Even the 49ers, who have been playing at an unreal level for a few years now, appear to have lost the plot, and defenses have caught up to Shanahan’s genius, at least to some extent.
Slowik is a chip off that Shanahan block, so what worked great last year isn’t performing as well.
Ryans gives the Texans a deeper fortitude
However, Ryans continues to be this team’s anchor, and his leadership can carry the Texans back in the right direction.
“As the head coach, it’s my job is to make sure we’re all locked in. It’s not just C.J. Of course, he owns up to his mistakes, but it’s not only C.J., it’s everyone on the entire team. It’s not just him. Everybody has their one play here or there that can end up hurting you. But at the end of the day, mistakes happen in football. That’s the game we play. Mistakes happen, teams exploit mistakes sometimes, sometimes they don’t. But it’s about how you finish the game. And we still had an opportunity, there, to finish the game, and we didn’t.”
With a two-game lead in the AFC South, Houston has the opportunity to find its footing. A division win guarantees them a first-round home game in the playoffs and the strong potential for another home game in the Divisional round. The Texans have matchups against the Chiefs and Ravens still on tap. We’ll know a lot more about this team’s fortitude by their regular season finale on the road against the Titans.
Maybe a little revenge going into the playoffs will spark something in them to make a Super Bowl run.
