The Day After the Day After: Fallout from the Week 10 Houston Texans’ loss to the Detroit Lions

NFL: NOV 10 Lions at Texans — Photo by Leslie Plaza Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

A classic Houston loss. Blowing a big lead in dramatically creative fashion. Let’s review, ‘cause we love pain

The Day After the Day After…when the raw, immediate emotions from the aftermath of a game diminish into the realm of clarity and the proverbial (or literal) hangover no longer haunts the mind. With that, a review of Week 10:

The changes to the offensive line worked…until they didn’t: Suffice it to say that the Texans’ offensive line hasn’t had the desired results this season. The primary culprit: LG Kenyon Green. With him out, the Texans went with a solution whereby Juice Scruggs moved from center to left guard and Jarrett Patterson, back from concussion, played center. At first, it seemed to work. Yes, the Texans couldn’t move the Detroit interior, but since it is manned by run-stuffers like DJ Reader, that wasn’t shocking. Yet, in the 1^st half, CJ Stroud actually had time to step into the pocket. With that time, he moved the offense about as well as he has all season.

Then came the second half. The sack totals went up from zero to four. Stroud did not have the time he got in the first half. Also, with no Kenyon Green to deflect attention, Shaq Mason and Juice Scruggs showed their limitations. In the end, the pass protection didn’t hold up as required.

Texans’ Pass Defense at NRG: A key headline for this game centered on the Lions overcoming FIVE interceptions from Jared Goff to win the contest, and he could have thrown more. His line: 15-30 for 240 yards, two TDs and those pesky FIVE INTs. The last two opposing QBs to play at NRG only completed a combined 36% of their passes (Josh Allen, Anthony Richardson). All of that with the Texans only getting five QB hits and no sacks. Yet, the relentlessness of the pass rush, even sans Anderson, along with generally strong play in the secondary did much to make Goff, who’d completed 84% of his passes in his past 3 games, look like the QB that the LA Rams couldn’t wait to discard. Houston faltered in the 4^th quarter, but had the second half offense mustered some points, we’d be talking more about that pass defense.

Best punting of the season: The Houston punting game had it issues in the 1^st half of the season. However, Sunday night saw perhaps the best overall performance of the season from the punting unit. Townsend averaged 55 net yards/punt, to include a beautiful hang-it-in-the-Met 62-yard bomb, that, coupled with the Texans’ punt coverage, flipped the field and set up Houston’s last TD of the 1^st half. He even offered some decent field position in the second half when Houston punted from their 1-yard line in the 3^rd quarter. Sims averaged 14.3 yards/return and nearly broke two of those for TDs.

The first big “What If?” play of the year: On the third drive in the 3^rd quarter, after Detroit cut the lead to 23-13, Houston found some semblance of rhythm. In particular, Stroud hit Dalton Schultz on a 32-yard catch-and-run on 3^rd and 8, which deflated Detroit’s momentum. After a 4-yard Mixon run, Stroud faced 2^nd and 4 from the DET 30. He got some pressure but shifted in the pocket. While that happened, Tank Dell broke free from the left side, running deep across the middle for appeared a wide-open TD. However, Stroud wanted to set his feet, and then threw a lofted pass…that was intercepted by Detroit’s Carlton Davis for his 2^nd pick of the quarter. The replay must rate among the most painful for Houston fans. If Stroud isn’t worried about perfect, he hits Dell for the easiest TD of the day. The 2^nd half TD drought ends, Houston goes up 17 and maintains strategic control of the game. Alas, a pick, and the last effective offensive series for Houston. Figure on Stroud losing sleep thinking about that missed throw.

Perspective can help cope…somewhat: If you hadn’t watched a down of the game, you might say this wasn’t a bad loss. Then, you watch and read about some of the plays. The Texans lost their second game of the season where it had a +3 turnover margin. It was the first team since 1970 to lose a game where it had 5 INTs and a 15-point lead. Another patented Houston football gag. This rates up with the Kubiak-health-scare choke against the Colts in 2013 (blown 21-3 halftime lead) and 24-0 at Kansas City. Perhaps Houston is not the Super Bowl contender we thought.

Still, Houston didn’t lose anything in the standings, maintaining a two-game lead plus tiebreaker over the Colts. The AFC South is the worst division in the NFL. Maybe there is an AFC South Champions curse, whereby the team that won the division a year prior gets off to a great start and leads the division but suffers an inexplicable collapse. However, the trends show, even if Houston isn’t as good as expected, they should make the playoffs as the 4-seed as a division champ. What happens after that??? Ummm….Errr…think the 2010s Texans?

FUN WITH NUMBERS:

50: Number of 3rd Down and 10+ yards plays faced by CJ Stroud this season. This leads the league by 13 plays. Stroud can be a good QB and plays fairly well on 3^rd down overall (60% completion percentage, 3TDs/1 INT). However, to force a QB to constantly make 3^rd and long conversions stresses an offense, and more than likely, teams can’t convert. This is a season-long trend, one playing a significant factor in Houston’s offensive struggles.

4: INTs in the 3^rd quarter of the game. Also, the same number of offensive passes caught in the 3^rd quarter. If you break those numbers down further to passes caught:

DBs: 4 passes caught/intercepted
TEs: 2 passes caught
RBs: 1 pass caught (Gibbs)
WRs: 1 pass caught (Woods)

GAME BALLS

CB Kamari Lassiter: Two INTs for the rookie. Ok, one was off of a Hail Mary to end the half, but a pick is a pick. The second appeared to stem some early Detroit momentum, when he picked off Goff at the HOU 1. This adds to a nice season for the rookie, who took the lead in INTs for all NFL rookies at 3. Unfortunately, Lassiter left the game shortly afterwards due to shoulder and concussion concerns.

P Tommy Townsend: Already noted his stats, but for all of the failings of the team, hard to fault his play. That 2^nd quarter field-flipping punt must rate among the best in Texans’ memory.

The New Battle Red Helmets and Jerseys: Quality threads and set up for this matchup. Those two parts of the uniform rise to the “stylin’ and profilin’” category.

SHOULD BE FORCED TO REWATCH EVERY SINGLE POLITICAL AD FROM 2024 ALL WEEK, ONLY WITH CHRIS COLLINGSWORTH’S VOICE DUBBED OVER EVERYTHING

The Texans’ 2^nd Half Offense…Everyone Involved: There isn’t much more to say than the following: 6 Drives (INT, punt, INT, Punt, Punt, Punt, Missed FG); 69 total yards, 0 points. This following a 1^st half of: 6 drives (TD, FG, FG, FG, Punt, TD), 182 yards, 23 points. The Texans couldn’t run the ball against Detroit in the 1^st or 2^nd half, but made up for it by not pass blocking in the 2nd half.

OC Bobby Slowik: Sure, this doesn’t excuse the rest of the coaching staff, but the offense, or glaring lack thereof, was the biggest reason that Houston didn’t hold on to win. Even a couple of FGs, Houston pulls a Kubiak and wins by just enough. Most glaringly for Slowik is that he never adjusted to what Detroit did in the second half. He also put Stroud in constant 2^nd/3^rd and long situations, which you can’t consistently convert in the NFL. Yes, Stroud isn’t performing like expected , but much of that rests with the hands Slowik is dealing.

The Battle Red Pants: Uh, no. That was way, way too much red. Surprised Toro didn’t run out on to the field to gore the players…or maybe he was just trying for Slowik instead.

With that game in the book, the Texans don’t take the field again until next Monday night, where they get to play the Deep Southern Oklahoma Cowboys at their field. The Texans look to snap their two game primetime losing streak and win a regular season game at the House of Jerry Jones for the 1st time. Aikman and Buck on the call…so go for the close captioning if at all possible.