Embarrassing in all ways
Futility covered every aspect of a team that looked totally lost at Buffalo
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y.
— After the worst defeat in Texans’ history, coach David Culley delivered a well-deserved butt chewing that was so impassioned he could be heard howling through the walls at Highmark Stadium.
In the visiting interview room, reporters heard Culley ripping his coaches and players a new one after the embarrassing 40-0 loss to the Buffalo Bills. It was no more Mr. Nice Guy.
After his emotional outburst in the Texans’ locker room, Culley took full responsibility for a performance so wretched it looked as if they were tanking for the first pick in the 2022 draft.
“For whatever reason, I did not have them ready to play,” Culley said. “I’ve got to do a better job. Our coaches have got to do a better job. We got outcoached and outplayed today. The bottom line is we just played bad football, and that starts with the head coach.”
In more than four decades of covering the NFL, I’ve witnessed some pathetic performances but none more rotten than the effort the Texans gave during a persistent rain in suburban Buffalo, where it was 67 degrees at kickoff.
The 40-point loss set a Texans’ record for futility, surpassing a 38-point defeat at Jacksonville in 2017.
Even though he didn’t admit it, it was obvious Culley was angry and embarrassed and probably frustrated as well because nothing the Texans tried came close to working against the Bills, who won their third consecutive game.
To his credit, Culley refused to use the weather, injuries or the illness that struck several players and coaches as excuses.
“I don’t think it was the weather,” he said. “We made some bad decisions. We just didn’t play very good football, and it had nothing to do with the weather.”
Until Sunday, I thought the Oilers’ 20-0 loss to the Bills in 1985 was the worst offensive performance I’d seen, but this one surpassed it. The Oilers team that finished with seven first downs, 142 yards (31 passing) and committed six turnovers in a horrific wind had talent with quarterback Warren Moon, receiver Drew Hill and Hall of Fame guards Mike Munchak and Bruce Matthews. They chalked it up as just a bad day.
On Sunday, the Texans had rookie Davis Mills at quarterback, and he was terrible. And his teammates on offense were just as bad and a big reason the Texans have a three-game losing streak after their opening victory over Jacksonville.
This couldn’t be chalked up as just a bad day. This was an embarrassment for the ages.
Mills threw four interceptions and had a 23.4 rating. The Texans had 109 yards, including 48 rushing. They were 1 of 9 on third down. And they allowed the Bills to dominate time of possession.
Buffalo rushed for 199 yards and generated 450 overall, and the Bills kept the ball for 38 minutes and 15 seconds.
And making the worst even worse? The Texans committed 10 penalties for 100 yards. They lost their composure and paid a steep price.
“That’s an undisciplined team, and that starts with me,” Culley said about the turnovers, penalties and mental errors that were so costly. “That’s way too many penalties.
“A lot of times we had positive yards, and we ended up getting a penalty here, and a penalty there. Pre-snap penalties are always bad for us. It puts us in bad situations, and we’re not able to overcome those things.”
What’s amazing about their performance is despite how miserable the offense was, the Texans trailed only 16-0 at halftime and 19-0 going into the fourth quarter. The defense should get a lot of credit for not collapsing for three quarters, especially considering the predicaments the offense placed the defense in.
With Mills and the offense flailing away — failing to put together a string of first downs, much less actually scoring some points — the defense spent too much time on the field and allowed three touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
“Early in the game, I thought our defense did a nice job of holding them when we turned the ball over,” Culley said. “That’s not the way we’ve been playing. I told the players to hang in there, and we’re going to get that corrected.”
For the first time since preseason, Mills looked like a quarterback who started only 11 games in college. He overthrew receivers. He made bad decisions. The wet ball slipped out of his hand.
“The quarterback handles the ball, and he made a couple of throws I wish he’d had back, but you could have put Joe Montana out there, and the way we played, we’re not going to have success on offense,” Culley said.
The running game managed to produce only 48 yards. Because Mills was sacked three times, the Texans netted only 61 yards passing. They averaged 2.6 yards a play.
“Just bad offensive football, no consistency,” Culley said. “We have to be able to stay on the field consistently on first and second down. We weren’t able to do that. And it’s not just our up-front people.
“It was getting penalties. When we get behind with penalties like that, it’s pretty self-explanatory — if you’re not going to have consistency, you’re not going to stay on the field. I think if we don’t turn the ball over and do the things we’re supposed to do we have a chance, but not the way we played today.
“When you don’t do that, you get your butt beat like we did.”