Houston has had a rough time with closing out games. 

The Texans have put themselves in bad situations at the end of games in each of their past four games. Against the Colts, Houston was able to pull out a win, but in each of the other three, play calling and end of game situations have put winnable games in the hands of Houston’s opponents.

That happened again on Sunday night, as the Texans (6-4) blew a 16-point second half lead and lost 26-23 to the Detroit Lions (8-1) after head scratching offensive decisions down the stretch once again.

“The second half just wasn’t good enough,” said Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans. “We stalled on a lot of drives, we didn’t score any points, we turned the ball over. To beat good teams we have to be able to sustain drives and score points. It felt like we were going backwards all second half.”

Houston got as good of a start as they could have asked for. On the sixth play of the game, Jalen Pitre tipped a pass and Jimme Ward dove under it to get an interception and set up the Houston offense inside the Lions 40-yard-line. Houston then went 33-yards in eight plays and scored when Joe Mixon took a jet sweep eight yards for a touchdown.

The Texans defense forced another three and out and Houston nearly cashed in with another touchdown, but after getting it all the way down to the Lions 3-yard line the offense got called for a hold and they were forced to settle for a 34-yard field goal from Ka’imi Fairbairn. 

The Lions answered back at the start of the second quarter, going 70 yards on 11 plays and getting their offense going before scoring on a 20-yard pass from Jared Goff to Sam LaPorta. Houston answered back with another field goal from 56 yards out and then the Houston defense came up huge again on the Lions next drive as Denico Autry forced a fumble by Goff and Henry To’oTo’o came up with it to set Houston up in good field position again, but again the Texans drive stalled in the redzone and they settled for a 29-yard field goal from Fairbairn. After Detroit was forced to punt with just over a minute remaining the Texans added one more score before the half, going 66-yards in six plays before CJ Stroud connected on a 15-yard touchdown pass with John Metchie as Houston went into the half with a 23-7 lead. 

“It hurts, we had one of the best teams in the NFL on the ropes and we should have put them away,” Stroud said. “We played so well in the first half and really the whole second half was on the offense. We have to be better and I have to be better.”

Houston gave Detroit momentum right out of the gate in the second half when Stroud threw an interception on the first play of the third quarter, but Houston’s defense answered back as Kamari Lassiter intercepted a ball in the endzone to get Houston’s offense the ball back. Detroit got on the board first in the half though, getting the ball back and driving before David Montgomery punched in a touchdown from 3-yards out to make it a 10 point game. Another Stroud interception kept the momentum in Detroit's favor but Goff gave it back to the Texans when he threw his fifth interception of the night to Calen Bullock. 

Things stayed at a 10 point game until early in the fourth quarter when the Lions put together another successful drive and got a touchdown on a 9-yard pass from Goff to Amon Ra St. Brown. Detroit tied the game with five minutes left with a 58-yard field goal and Houston had a chance to drive down the field and seal the game with a score. Butafter getting to midfield, Houston called two straight run plays that only gained six yards and then after an incomplete pass, decided to settle for a 58-yard field goal attempt instead of going for it. That field goal attempt was missed and left Detriot with a short field and under two minutes on the clock. Detroit moved the ball and bled the clock all the way down before nailing a 52-yard field goal of its own to win the game.

Once again, the Texans defense stepped up and made plays. They limited one of the best offenses in the NFL to just 26 points and set a franchise record with five interceptions in one game. But for the Texans to get where they want to go, the offense and the pay calling must drastically improve. It was the fourth straight game that Houston has failed to score a touchdown in the second half, over those past four games Houston has only scored 15 total points in the second half, on Sunday Houston only managed 97 yards over the final two quarters and allowed 19 unanswered points in the second half.

“We have to look at our second halves,” Ryans said. “We haven’t moved the ball well, we have done uncharacteristic things. We just have to find a way to play a complete game. We’re going to look at everything, from play calling to what positions we are putting our guys in and how they can best succeed. Everyone has to take ownership of what they are supposed to do.”

Houston travels to Dallas this week before returning home to face the Titans. It’s a very important stretch, with winnable games and a chance to keep or stretch the teams division lead and they know that they cannot take anything lightly after two straight losses.

“It’s hard to lose like that, especially when our defense played so well,” Stroud said. “We just aren’t scoring points when we need to. It’s easy and we have to get it fixed. We can’t sit here and have out heads down. We have to get our heads up, get back to work and be ready for Dallas.”