They say that, in the National Football League, more games are lost than won. In other words, it’s typically the mistakes made by the losing team that dictate the outcomes of games more than plays made by the winning team. If there is one thing with which we have experience in Houston, it is losing football games. After just eight wins over the last 37 games, that the Texans know how to lose a football game.
This past Sunday was no different than the other couple dozen or son times the Texans have lost games over the last couple years. On occasion, in a game with a ton of nuance, a winnable game for the Texans in which they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, I like to nail down the most impactful, losing plays.
So here you go, the ten most crucial plays to securing a loss for the Texans against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday (complete with their box score description and commentary from me):
3rd & 5 at HOU 30, 13:40 left in Q1
(Shotgun) D.Mills pass deep right intended for N.Collins INTERCEPTED by N.Adderley [K.Mack] at LAC 45. N.Adderley to HST 25 for 30 yards (N.Collins).
This was the third play of the game, a Davis Mills overthrow to end all overthrows that sailed about ten feet over Nico Collins’ head and into the waiting arms of Adderley. What’s worse is that, not only did this set up the first Chargers touchdown, but it was on a play that came after the Texans had burned a timeout just two snaps into the game.
3rd & 11 at LAC 44, 9:15 left in Q1
(Shotgun) D.Mills pass deep left to B.Cooks to LAC 22 for 22 yards (B.Callahan). PENALTY on HST-K.Green, Offensive Holding, 10 yards, enforced at LAC 44 – No Play.
At this point, the Texans were trailing 7-0, and putting together a decent response to the Chargers’ opening score. This would have been the Texans’ third 3rd down conversion of the drive, and their longest 3rd down conversion of the season. Alas, a Kenyon Green hold brought it back from the Chargers 22 yard line into Texans territory. On 3rd and 21, Mills was sacked and the Texans had to punt. The score remained 7-0, Chargers.
1st & 10 at LAC 27, 8:03 left in Q1
(Shotgun) J.Herbert pass incomplete short left to M.Williams (B.Cashman).
In the box score, this looks like a benign incompletion. In real life, it was a spoon-fed interception that Blake Cashman just dropped. It would have given the Texans another opportunity in Chargers territory, down just 7-0.
3rd & 5 at LAC 29, 3:27 left in Q1
(Shotgun) PENALTY on HST-L.Tunsil, False Start, 5 yards, enforced at LAC 29 – No Play.
Later in the first quarter, the Texans again worked their way into Chargers territory. In a manageable 3rd and 5 situation, Left tackle Laremy Tunsil had a false start, making it a far less manageable 3rd and 10. The Texans chose a shovel pass to Rex Burkhead (a “surrender flag” of a play, if there ever was one), which made it 4th and 4, and Ka’imi Fairbairn promptly missed a 46 yard field goal BADLY. The score remained 7-0, and chances galore had been squandered.
3rd & 5 at HOU 30, 11:33 left in Q2
(Shotgun) D.Mills pass incomplete deep right to N.Collins.
Here, the score had escalated to 14-0, and with the Texans needing a response in the worst way, Mills caused a three and out by sailing yet another pass over Collins’ head on third down. Thankfully, this one was only an incompletion and not an interception.
2nd & 7 at LAC 30, 10:46 left in Q2
J.Herbert pass short left to M.Williams pushed ob at HST 20 for 50 yards (J.Owens).
Of course, had the previous play above been an interception, in retrospect, it may not have mattered. Even having to go 73 yards to make the score 21-0, the Chargers made it look easy. On a three play drive, the lion’s share of the yardage was eaten up by a Mike Williams catch and run where there were no Texans even in the screen on TV near him for most of the play. One play later, it was 21-0.
4th & 1 at LAC 24, 1:01 left in Q2
D.Mills sacked at LAC 32 for -8 yards (K.Mack).
The Texans did get some things cooking in the second quarter. Granted, most of it came on one play, Dameon Pierce’s 75 yard TD run to make it 21-7, but the Texans had a chance to get more points before the end of the half. Trailing 24-7, on a 4th and 1 in Charger territory, OC Pep Hamilton evidently thought the best thing to do would be to put that play in the hands of two of his worst offensive players this season, Davis Mills and Rex Burkhead, on what was supposed to be a short pass. We will never know if it would have worked, because Mills was sacked by an unblocked Khalil Mack, but we DO know that Dameon Pierce was not on the field for this play. Malpractice.
2nd & 7 at LAC 13, 9:22 left in Q4
(Shotgun) D.Mills sacked at LAC 21 for -8 yards (J.Tillery). FUMBLES (J.Tillery) [J.Tillery], touched at LAC 20, recovered by HST-J.Akins at LAC 22. HST-T.Howard was injured during the play.
Amazingly, the Texans climbed their way back into this game in the third quarter, and following a DeAndre Carter fumble on a kickoff after the Texans made it 27-21, the Texans had a chance to take the lead with the ball on the Chargers’ doorstep. On 2nd and 7, though, Mills was sacked again, and the drive stalled with just a field goal, making it 27-24 Chargers. That would end the scoring for the Texans on the day.
4th & 2 at LAC 45, 5:23 left in Q4
J.Herbert pass short right to A.Ekeler to HST 34 for 21 yards (J.Owens).
From there, the Chargers would go on a long drive, where they controlled the ball, killed the clock, and the catalyst play was a 4th and 2 in which Chargers head coach Brandon Staley chose to go for it. The Chargers got an easy pitch and catch from Justin Herbert to Austin Ekeler for 21 yards. This, too, was after a Texans timeout, another rough look for Lovie.
And that’s all she wrote. Chargers 34, Texans 24. The search for the first win continues.
Listen to Sean Pendergast on SportsRadio 610 from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays. Also, follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/SeanTPendergast and like him on Facebook at facebook.com/SeanTPendergast.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2022.
