Rating Week 12 loss to Tennessee Titans

It’s hard to say a team that leads its division hit rock bottom, but that was the case for the Houston Texans on Sunday.

The two-win Tennessee Titans stunned the AFC South-leading Texans, handing Houston an embarrassing 32-27 loss at NRG Stadium.

Perhaps the only way this day could have been worse was if the Texans had been able to wear their alternate “H-Town Blue” uniforms (a clear dig at the former Oilers), but the NFL had it removed.

Here’s how we rated the performance of Houston’s units in the loss.

Without a doubt, this is the worst loss of the DeMeco Ryan era in Houston. The Texans looked to get back on track with Monday’s win in Dallas, but it was apparently fool’s gold. For the second week in a row, the Texans found themselves in a close game with a bad team in the fourth quarter. This time they couldn’t find a way to win. Instead, they seemed to find every possible way to lose.

It started off great with a touchdown on the Texans’ first play from scrimmage. But after a second-quarter TD, Houston’s offense failed to find the end zone again on its final nine possessions. CJ Stroud threw two horrible interceptions in his own territory. Joe Mixon (14 carries, 22 yards) and the running game were no factor. Penalties proved fatal, including an illegal shift that wiped a go-ahead TD off the board in the fourth quarter.

This one is complicated. Without the defense getting some stops in the second half, especially after the Texans turnovers, finishing with eight sacks and Jimmie Ward returning an interception for a TD to give the Texans back the lead, things could have been a lot worse. But they were also lit up by the Titans, with the hitherto unremarkable Will Levis completing three long passes, including two of 60 yards or longer, with two going for TDs. Tight end Chig Okonkwo took a simple pass and ran past the Texans’ defense for the game-winning 70-yard TD. Tony Pollard also ran for 119 yards on 24 carries to provide a ground game complement. There were far too many negatives to overshadow any positives.

Ka’imi Fairbairn broke the NFL single-season record with his 12th field goal of 50 or more yards. Yet he also hit a 28-yarder that would have tied the game with less than two minutes remaining. That just can’t happen with a veteran kicker. Dameon Pierce had a couple of nice kickoff returns with an 80-yarder to set up the opening TD. Special teams had some bad penalties, including one that put the Texans in the shadow of their own goal line to set up the safety that sealed the loss. Not everything was bad in this phase, but Fairbairn’s miss was a killer.

A division-leading loss to a two-winner team at home is the nadir of the two-season DeMeco Ryan era in Houston. Game management was questionable at times, with a first-half delay penalty awarded after some inaction as to whether to point or go for it at fourth down. Offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik was too stubborn with an ineffective running game and will continue to come under fire from the fan base. Ryans’ defense gave up too many plays to an underwhelming offense. The Texans’ residency in the AFC South almost certainly guarantees a playoff spot, but they won’t be going anywhere if Ryans and company don’t fix what’s gone wrong the last few weeks.