(SportsRadion 610) - Halloween and Thanksgiving had come and gone since the last time the Texans lost a game, and they failed Sunday to extend their winning streak to four games by suffering their first defeat since Oct. 29 at Carolina – their most embarrassing loss of DeMeco Ryans' first season.
In the team's most important game since the 2019 playoffs, the Texans wasted a chance to take over first place in the AFC South and control their playoff destiny, losing 24-21 to the Jaguars and just about handing Jacksonville its second consecutive division title.
If the Texans (6-5) had won at NRG Stadium, they would have tied the Jaguars for first place in the AFC South and owned the head-to-head tiebreaker. Instead, Jacksonville (8-3) increased its division lead to two games over the Texans and Colts (6-5).
If the playoffs started today, the Texans would be on the outside looking in at the Colts, who won the first game in the AFC South series. Fortunately for the Texans, they'll get another shot at Indianapolis as well as Denver and Cleveland – teams either tied with them or ahead of them in the AFC playoff race.
As time was running out against the Jaguars, the Texans trailed by three points when Ryans elected to have Matt Ammendola attempt a 58-yard field goal rather than have C.J. Stroud go for it on fourth-and-12 at the Jacksonville 39.
Ammendola, whose 50-yard field goal attempt at the end of the first half was wide right, kicked it down the middle, but the ball hit the crossbar with 29 seconds left, securing the victory for the Jaguars.
It was the Texans' seventh consecutive game in which the outcome wasn't settled until the last 30 seconds.
"It felt like that was the right decision," Ryans said. "It was close. It just didn't go in. I thought we had good range from there. Just didn't make the kick."
Ammendola, who helped the Texans win at Cincinnati with a 38-yard field goal with no time remaining, has never made a 50-yard field goal during his NFL career. Stroud didn't believe it was fair for the offense to put him in that situation.
"You can't put the whole game on that situation," Stroud said. "We've got to be cleaner and execute better in the first half. You don't want to lose a close game like that. It's tough to put it all on the kicker. We have to put him in better situations. Maybe get closer or even try to score a touchdown and win the game. A lot of different things that could happen and play out a different way."
Stroud played an outstanding game. He completed 26-of-36 (72.2 percent) for 304 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. He averaged 8.4 yards per attempt and compiled a 116.0 rating. He also led the team in rushing with six carries for 47 yards and a touchdown.
After the game, Stroud wasn't ready to concede the division title to the Jaguars.
"You want to win the game (but) it's about the mindset," he said. "What are we going to do? Not play anymore? We're just going to tuck our tail and not play hard? I don't really believe in that type of mindset. I'm going out there every play, every game trying to win.
"I don't think that our season is over at all. We have six more games to play. You can see the trajectory we're on. There's a lot of things we can learn from. (The) sky is still the limit."
The Texans, who beat the Jaguars 37-17 in Jacksonville, are now 6-3 after their 0-2 start. In their third consecutive home game, they play Denver (6-5), a team with a five-game winning streak and renewed playoff hopes under first-year coach Sean Payton.
Jacksonville has won seven of eight after losing to the Texans. The Jaguars, who are undefeated on the road and have an eight-game winning streak dating back to last season, have a Monday night home game against the Bengals.
The Texans played bad in a lot of areas, and this was the most poorly officiated game of the season. Officials missed calls that went against both teams, but their inexcusable ineptness extended to replay, too, especially a great sideline catch by Tank Dell that was ruled incomplete and upheld by the replay official in New York. Subsequent angles showed Dell got both feet in bounds.
Before the game, Warren Sharp of Sharp Football pointed out something interesting. The Texans went into the game second in the NFL in getting called for defensive pass interference. The Jaguars were first in drawing defensive pass interference calls. Referee Clay Martin and his crews have been among the top five in calling defensive pass interference penalties in three of the last five years.
Guess what? The Texans were called for pass interference on three third down incompletions and another holding call on a third down incompletion.
The officials didn't beat the Texans, though. The Texans did enough to beat themselves, and the officials also missed calls that went against the Jaguars, including what should have been a holding call on Jalen Pitre when Derek Stingley Jr. intercepted Trevor Lawrence.
The Texans couldn't run against the league's fourth-best run defense. The offensive line did a terrible job of run blocking and protecting Stroud, who was sacked four times for 43 yards in losses, including 2.5 by defensive end Josh Allen. His sacks came in crucial situations in the fourth quarter.
The Texans had their worst pass rush of the season. Not only did they not sack Lawrence, but they hit him only two times. No wonder he threw for a season-high 364 yards. And the defense allowed Lawrence to complete four passes of 42 yards or more.
"The explosive plays, you can't have them, right?" Ryans said. "You give up explosive plays, it equals points, and that's what happened. We gave up too many explosives plays on defense. Good plays by them (Jaguars). We didn't execute the details of our job. When you don't execute versus a really good team, that's what happens."
To make matters worse, Ryans had to burn two timeouts in the second half when Stroud could have used them on the last drive that came up short on Ammendola's failed field goal. Ryans had to call one on first down when the clock was about to expire. Then he had to use another one when special teams had 12 men on the field. Naturally, Ryans wasn't happy about it.
"It's tough for us not having those timeouts, having to waste them on procedural things we need to clean up," he said. "Those timeouts were just self-inflicted things we have to be better at. Whether it's making sure we got the right amount of people on the field, getting the calls in quicker, getting to the line of scrimmage quicker, we just have to be better."
But they weren't better against the Jaguars, and it cost them a chance to earn a fourth consecutive victory by sweeping Jacksonville. Considering all the mistakes and poor plays they made – as well as bad calls by the officials – they still had a chance to tie or win the game on their last possession.
"(It's) not a missed opportunity for us," Ryans said. "We didn't play our best, and as I told our guys, you don't execute versus a good team, this is what happens.
"There's no need to hold our head or sulk about anything. We have to do something about it when we're on the field. You play better, you'll win the game. Today, we didn't deserve to win because we didn't play good enough."
John McClain can be heard Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday on SportsRadio 610 and Monday, Thursday and Sunday on Texans Radio, also on SportsRadio 610. He writes five columns a week and does three Houtopia Football Podcasts for SportsRadio610.com.
