Texans look for answers after embarrassing 31-2 home loss to the Ravens

HOUSTON (AP) — Quarterback C.J. Stroud summed up Houston’s performance in an embarrassing 31-2 loss to Baltimore on Wednesday.

“Sometimes you go out there and lay an egg,” Stroud said. “It’s not easy to say that, but that’s what happened. Didn’t play well from the first play to the last.”

The AFC South champion Texans (9-7) managed only a safety as they suffered their most lopsided loss of the season in front of a home crowd that booed them often throughout the second half.

“That’s nothing that we represent, nothing that we talked about all year, all season, all week,” receiver Robert Woods said. “And pretty much it’s just an embarrassment to show up like that, and that’s not the Texans’ way and mentality of playing football and showing up in the first place.”

The Texans allowed a season-high 251 yards rushing on a day the Ravens’ Derrick Henry ran for 147 yards and quarterback Lamar Jackson added 87 to pass Michael Vick for the NFL career rushing record for quarterbacks.

“This game comes down to guys making plays and they had two exceptional playmakers on their side in Lamar and Derrick Henry,” coach DeMeco Ryans said. “They made plays and that was the game.”

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A loss like this is particularly concerning for a team with just one week to prepare before the start of the playoffs. Defensive end Will Anderson Jr. said the problems are not from a lack of effort but rather from an inability to stop making simple mistakes.

“It’s embarrassing,” Anderson said. “That’s not playoff football, and I think everybody in this locker room knows that from the top to the bottom. We have to do a better job and the coaches can do their part, but I feel like as players we have to do our part. The leaders and captains, we have to step up and… we have to hold guys accountable and make sure that everybody’s doing their job.”

Rookie Kamari Lassiter dropped Henry for a 4-yard loss for the safety with about 10 minutes left in the first half to cut the lead to 10-2.

Dameon Pierce then returned the kickoff 45 yards to get the Texans to their 43. But they came away empty when Joe Mixon was stopped on the 1 after grabbing a short pass on fourth-and-3.

Stroud threw for 185 yards, but was sacked five times and threw an interception and Mixon managed just 26 yards rushing as the Texans lost a second straight. They struggled to finish drives in their first game since dynamic receiver Tank Dell sustained a season-ending knee injury in a loss to the Chiefs.

Mixon refused to speak to reporters postgame, but Stroud took the blame for the loss.

“Terrible on my behalf, probably one of my worst games in my whole career,” he said. “Just came out flat, didn’t have any energy. I didn’t lead the offense the way I should have.”

Stroud said he isn’t worried about the team and that wallowing in the loss won’t help anything. So he’s going to do everything he can to help the Texans move on and be better their next time out.

“I’m sure a lot of people in their careers have had this type of game before,” he said. “I’m not going to sit here and act like this is just foreign. But it is necessary to wake you up and that’s what it’s going to do for me and this team.”

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