There are bad losses. There are heartbreaking ones that take forever to respond from
Then, there’s the inexcusable second-half debacle that led to a 26-23 Houston Texans loss at home against the Detroit Lions on ‘Sunday Night Football’ at NRG Stadium.
The Texans led by 16 at halftime. They forced five interceptions on Jared Goff and held the offense to six first downs. C.J. Stroud found John Metchie for his first career touchdown and the vibes were great.
Then came the second half. Then came the wrong side of history.
“Definitely should have won this game,” Stroud said. “My job is to lead the offense to score points, and I didn’t do that today.
“We really should have put them away after the first half. It’s really on the offense.”
The Texans (6-4) became the second team since 1933 to lose a game in which they caught five interceptions and led by at least 15. Previously, teams were 373-1-1 when leading by at least 15 and snagging five interceptions.
Second-half woes remain a concern. Houston now is going on eight quarters without a second-half touchdown, dating back to Week 6’s win over the struggling New England Patriots. They’ve also been outscored 141-82 over the past 10 outings in 2024, ranking 31st in the league.
Against Detroit the Texans scored zero points in the final 30 minutes and matched Goff’s two turnovers with Stroud picks, fueling the Lions’ comeback.
Here’s the snap count from Sunday night’s debacle:
Snap counts and stats from #Texans frustrating 26-23 loss Sunday night to #Lions @KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/9tsIwXeiS1
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) November 11, 2024
Offensive snaps: 68
Defensive snaps: 65
Special teams snaps: 13
Metchie, who totaled 74 yards on five catches, played in 44 snaps. Xavier Hutchinson led all playmakers with 57 snaps. Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil was the only lineman not to play all 68 snaps. He left on the Joe Mixon touchdown drive for three plays, thus opening up the rep count.
Defensively, Calen Bullock totaled his three games with 100% of reps. Both Kamari Lassiter and Derek Stingley Jr. totaled all 65 snaps in the secondary. Jalen Pitre played 83% of the snaps. Linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair returned for the first time in three weeks and played in 91% of reps.
The Texans return home next week to face off against the Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football. They should have back Nico Collins, who’s missed the previous five games while on the injured reserve with a hamstring injury.
Kickoff from AT&T Stadium is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. CT.
