HOUSTON – At his locker late Sunday night, Laremy Tunsil reflected on what just unfolded and acknowledged the difficult truth about the Texans’ latest setback: a defeat at the hands of the Detroit Lions.
A commanding lead evaporated in the second half largely because the offense was completely ineffective during a 26-23 loss as a 23-7 halftime lead was squandered and the Texans managed to fall short despite the defense intercepting Lions quarterback Jared Goff five times as Detroit scored 19 unanswered points in the second half.
“The frustration is high because we should have won that football game,” said Tunsil, who had a 72.6 pass blocking grade with no sacks allowed and one hurry.
The Texans made a major move across the offensive line in an effort to shore up substandard pass protection. Ultimately, it was, at least immediately, something of a half-measure.
The pass protection became marginally better. One week after allowing quarterback C.J. Stroud to be sacked a career-high eight times with 11 hits in a road loss to the New York Jets, the Texans yielded just four sacks to the Lions with Ayden Hutchinson on injured reserve and newly-acquired pass rusher Za’Darius Smith held out of the game. Stroud was still hit seven times overall.
The Texans instituted a line shuffle that inserted Jarrett Patterson as the new center as the replacement for Juice Scruggs, who lined up next to Tunsil at left guard.
While the pass blocking got better, the run blocking took a large step backwards. It was a clear regression as the line couldn’t get a lot of push to create holes and allowed a lot of interior penetration into the backfield to squeeze running plays. The Texans rushed for just 56 yards on 28 carries as Pro Bowl running back Joe Mixon’s four-game streak of 100-yard performances came to a screeching halt. He gained just 46 yards on 25 carries, averaging 1.8 yards per run. Except for how he trucked a defensive back on his eight-yard touchdown run, the running game was stonewalled.
“I feel like the change was good,” Tunsil said. “I feel like we played solid upfront. The run game wasn’t as good as we expected. I feel like we took a step in the passing game, but we can always be better.”
Stroud has been sacked 34 times this season for the 6-4 Texans. He was only sacked 38 times as a rookie.
Against the Lions, there was an awkward moment where it looked like right tackle Tytus Howard intentionally stripped the football from Stroud. Howard was actually just trying to keep Stroud from falling and it just went badly. Howard recovered the fumble in the fourth quarter. Howard declined a formal interview, but explained it was simply accidental.
Howard gave up one hurry and one pressure and no sacks.
Scruggs allowed two pressures and no sacks. Patterson and right guard Shaq Mason both allowed sacks. Mason had a particularly rough game with four pressures allowed to lead the team for a 51.9 pass blocking grade, according to Pro Football Focus analytics.
“I think our guys protected well,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “We had Patterson in at center, moved Juice over to guard. Communication was good upfront. Thought the guys protected well enough for us to make some plays. I think the move was good there.”
The Lions were so stout inside, though, with heavyweight defensive tackles D.J. Reader and Alim McNeil that there was little room for Mixon to operate. He was repeatedly gang-tackled.
“They presented some looks stacking the box,” Mason said. “We just know that we have to be better. It’s still a lot of confidence. We still have a lot of football left. We’re still in the position we want to be in. We know down the road we have to win these type of games.”
The Texans have an upcoming game against the Dallas Cowboys followed by a home game against the Tennessee Titans and a road game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. With the return of star wide receiver Nico Collins this week after he was inactive against the Lions after being activated from injured reserve-designated for return, the Texans have an excellent chance to be 9-4 heading into their bye week.
They were 6-4 at this stage of the season last year and finished 11-8 overall and won the AFC South and one playoff game. Every team in the AFC South except the Texans has a losing record.
“I feel like we’re a better team than we were last year,” Tunsil said. “Six-and-four is not a bad position. It’s not a great position, but we’ve got a lot of fotball left. We’ve got to put the foot on the pedal and keep going.”
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Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com.
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