Nick Chubb’s late touchdown scooting into the end zone had the NRG Stadium shaking. But in the NFL, any narrative can be rewritten in the time it takes to run 80 yards. Baker Mayfield and Rachaad White authored that devastating final stanza, stealing a 20-19 victory and leaving the Houston Texans to pick through the wreckage of their own making.

In the aftermath, head coach DeMeco Ryans stood at the podium. When asked about his young quarterback’s performance, the response was tellingly measured: “I have to check the film.” But on the broader, more systemic failures, his assessment was crystal clear. The blame, as he laid it out, was a collective assignment. “We did not run the ball…not good enough,” he stated, his words carrying the weight of a truth the stat sheet screamed: a paltry 84 rushing yards.

The offensive struggles were a symphony of errors, but the conductor pointed directly at the critical failure on third down. He added, “It’s a collective effort, but we go two for nine on third down. What do we expect if we can’t get the ball in at the goal line? What do we expect is going to happen?”

That goal-line stand was the game’s brutal, beating heart, a sequence of pure football anguish. First and goal from the one-yard line. Three shots to punch it in and seize control. A run stuff. Then, two Stroud passes sailed incomplete into the corners of the end zone.

It was a four-down manifesto of the night’s ineptitude, a “senseless” mistake in a game ultimately defined by them. The Texans’ defense, for all its star power, had its own lapses. Ryans pinpointed it bluntly: “We didn’t tackle well today.” This was evident on Mayfield’s Houdini act, a third-and-long scramble for 17 yards where would-be tacklers slipped away, and on the final, fateful drive where the Bucs’ offense moved with a methodical ease.

Texans face fourth-quarter trial after a crushing loss

The immediate reaction was as brutal as the loss itself. Veteran voice John McClain tweeted, “The Texans’ offense is awful. The defense folded when the team needed it the most. This was supposed to be a Super Bowl-caliber defense. Not tonight.”

Now, the task is to prevent one gut-punch loss from spiraling into a crisis. The outside noise is already at a crescendo, and quarterback Stroud knows the only remedy is internal fortitude. “We gotta stay together… everyone is going to talk and say we ‘suck this and that,’” he said, already bracing for the backlash. The raw numbers from Stroud’s night, a 54.2% completion rate for 207 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions, and a 97.0 passer rating, painted a picture of adequacy, but not the dominance expected after losing his TE.

The promise of this Texans team is undeniable: a blocked punt by Dare Ogunbowale and Jakob Johnson, a relentless pass rush that notched four sacks, and flashes of brilliance that make the final result so confounding. But promise doesn’t win close games. Execution does. Discipline does.

DeMeco Ryans made sure everyone in the locker room knew it was a bill that came due for all of them. They’ll have to cash that check quickly, with a critical AFC South showdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars looming.