Following the Houston Texans’ disheartening 31-2 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Christmas Day, Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud said he felt he had just finished “probably one of my worst games in my whole career.”
Other Houston players offered similar opinions regarding the contest that featured Texans fans booing the home team at NRG Stadium.
“That’s nothing that we represent, nothing that we talked about all year, all season, all week,” Texans wide receiver Robert Woods said after the defeat, as shared by The Associated Press’ Kristie Rieken. “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.”
While Stroud helped the Texans get to 6-2 before Halloween, the fact that he hasn’t shown vast improvement coming off a season he ended as the Offensive Rookie of the Year is one reason Houston has now lost five of its past eight games. Against Baltimore, the Texans defense surrendered a campaign-worst 251 rushing yards. Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson essentially put the game to bed early into the third quarter when he dashed to the end zone for a 48-yard score.
“It’s embarrassing,” Houston defensive end Will Anderson Jr. added. “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.”
The Texans are locked into the No. 4 seed for the playoffs as the champions of the AFC South and, thus, won’t have anything to play for when they face the lowly Tennessee Titans (3-12) in Week 18. With that said, Stroud and other starters may want to get some reps in at Nissan Stadium if only to put Wednesday’s game out of their memories before they begin their postseason journey.
