Mistakes costly in Texans’ loss to Baltimore
So many chances, so many mistakes as season slips away
BALTIMORE —The Texans’ turnovers in the final minutes of their game against the Ravens on Monday night were metaphorical.
As they turned over the ball, they also turned over their shot to win.
The Texans looked like they might be able to do something, to get it going, to put points on the board.
Then they’d commit a turnover. With the ball went their hopes of scoring an eventual win.
The moment Terrell Suggs pulled Tom Savage to the ground in the fourth quarter said so much.
The sack led to Savage fumbling the ball and, as Willie Henry recovered it, the Texans’ chances of pulling off an upset on the road during “Monday Night Football” also slipped away.
The game wasn’t over, but the Texans looked down and deflated as the offense made its way off the field slowly after the turnover.
The dejected Savage and the Texans would get one more chance to make something happen. With nearly three minutes to play, they had the ball.
Savage threw an interception — his second of the game.
The Ravens made the big plays and walked away with a 23-16 win.
The Texans tasted defeat yet again and are left to look through game film filled with a boat load of minor mistakes that added up and cost them a win.
Once again, they will try to regroup, try to improve and try to turn things around next week in Nashville.
But with every week, and with every loss, the possibility of turning this season into a good one seems less and less likely.
It’s starting to be all too familiar.
“It’s a terrible feeling,” coach Bill O’Brien said following the loss. “We are going to go back and look at this and know we had our chances.” Four wins. Seven losses. This isn’t what the Texans had in mind.
Momentum briefly continues
Things were looking up after last week. They beat the Cardinals 31-21, snapping a three-game losing streak. Savage looked better. The defense played well. They were upbeat and ready for their next challenge.
The Texans believed they could go to Baltimore and win. They believed they could get their season back on track.
This was a game the Texans were thrilled to play in. “Monday Night Football.” Prime time on a national stage. And it started well for them. Savage, who has made strides since taking over for injured starter Deshaun Watson, completed five of six passes on the Texans’ first drive and led them to a touchdown as Lamar Miller ran the ball in from four yards out for the score.
The Texans led and appeared to have energy to spare.
They were active on defense — especially Jadeveon Clowney, who was constantly moving and keeping the Baltimore offense on its toes.
The Texans looked better than the 4-6 record they brought with them to Charm City.
But the game ebbed then flowed and did so quickly.
Before long, the Texans looked like the 4-7 team that left M&T Bank Stadium disappointed on Monday night.
Savage wasn’t awful, but he made enough mistakes to cost his team — the biggest being an interception thrown to Tony Jefferson in the second quarter that led to a Ravens touchdown a few plays later.
The defense wasn’t terrible, but they missed costly tackles that let the Ravens stay ahead every time the game got close.
Fake punt looms large
Special teams left a lot to be desired, particularly when the Texans looked lost while Baltimore perfectly executed a fake punt that would lead to their first touchdown of the game a few plays later.
The Texans were handed chance after chance in the form of Baltimore penalties.
But they scored one touchdown in four trips to the red zone. It’s not good enough. The players know it. O’Brien knows it. Everyone knows it.
But they haven’t figured out how to fix it.
“We turned the ball over too many times,” O’Brien said. “We have to be better. We have to run better. We have to block better. We have to do a lot of things better.”
So they’ll try again. Next week, they head to Nashville.
As grim as things look, the Texans haven’t given up.
“These guys fight,” O’Brien said. “It doesn’t matter to say that at this point. You have to win.
“We will play hard in the next game and the game after that. I don’t doubt that.”
Playing hard won’t do the trick.
With every turnover, every botched play, every bad quarter, every loss, the season is slipping away.
Each loss means more than the last and puts the Texans further away from a chance at the postseason and the opportunity at salvaging the season.
Every loss hurts. This one has a particular sting. The Texans had their chances. And the Ravens took them away.
“It’s a terrible feeling,” O’Brien said. “It’s been a season of those.”