An 0-4 hole and another fourth-quarter collapse: What’s breaking down for the Texans

HOUSTON (AP) — After losing their first three games, the Houston Texans were comforted by the fact that they turned things around to make the playoffs last season after an identical start.

That comfort evaporated after a heartbreaking loss to Dallas Sunday dropped them to 0-4.

For the third time in four games, the Texans had a lead late in the fourth quarter only for the defense to give up a score after that to send Houston to yet another loss.

On Sunday, the Texans led by 3 after a 6-yard touchdown run by Woody Marks with about 2 1/2 minutes to play. The Texans were facing third-and-14 when a hook-and-ladder play with a 2-yard catch by Dalton Schultz and a 19-yard run by David Montgomery set up that score.

Dak Prescott then led an 11-play, 74-yard drive that included a fourth down conversion and capped it with a TD throw to CeeDee Lamb with 40 seconds left to give the Cowboys the victory.

“You’ve just got to finish, lock in, do your job,” defensive end Will Anderson said. “It starts with all of us. All of us have got to look at ourselves in the mirror and you’ve got to bow up at the end and it’s just as simple as that, man.”

Though there were many problems on Sunday, Houston’s most glaring issue was breakdowns in the secondary, especially in the second half.

The Texans allowed Lamb to finish with a career-high 17 catches for 189 yards on a day Prescott threw for 248 of his 335 yards in the second half and receivers were often left wide open.

Last season, Houston’s secondary was one of the team’s biggest strengths, ranking sixth in the NFL by allowing just 183.5 yards a game. This year the Texans are giving up 260 yards passing a game, which is 28th in the NFL.

“On a couple of plays there you see CeeDee is just wide open, that’s definitely not our plan,” coach DeMeco Ryans said. “We have to look at it to see what happened, what were the communication miscues that happened, but that’s not how we play coverage.”

While the Texans work to fix their defensive problems, the leaders of the team are working to make sure the guys don’t dwell on the awful start but instead look ahead.

“We have to be able to get ourselves out of this hole and we’re the only ones who can do it,” quarterback C.J. Stroud said. “We’re all we got. Nobody is coming to save us, so we have to make sure we’re looking ourselves in the eye, being accountable and honest and going to work.”

What’s working

Stroud continues to play well and ranks fifth in the NFL with 1,141 yards passing this season. He threw for 347 yards and two touchdowns for a 126.7 passer rating Sunday in his 50th career start. He has thrown five touchdown passes with no interceptions.

What needs help

There’s plenty to choose from here, but along with shoring up the secondary, the Texans must cut down on penalties. They had a whopping 13 for 90 yards against Dallas. Houston is averaging 73.3 yards of penalties per game this season, which is the seventh most in the NFL.

Anderson said the penalties are just one of many ways in which they’re not playing up to their standard.

“We’re in our own way right now,” he said. “We’re making silly mistakes that we shouldn’t be making. We have to get out of our own way for us to be the team that we want to be.”

Stock up

WR Nico Collins had seven receptions for 118 yards and two touchdowns Sunday, giving the offense a huge boost in his return after missing two games with a hamstring injury. It was his 13th career 100-yard game and his fourth with two touchdowns. He’s had at least 50 yards receiving in 11 straight games, which is the longest active streak in the NFL.

Stock down

CB Kamari Lassiter, a Pro Bowler last season, had a terrible game against the Cowboys. He allowed eight catches for 136 yards on 11 targets, according to NexGenStats.

The Texans led by 10 points midway through the third when George Pickens caught a 53-yard pass over him. Lassiter was flagged for pass interference on Pickens on third down on that drive to give Dallas a first down at the 1.

The Cowboys couldn’t move the ball after that to bring up fourth down. Dallas went for it and a holding penalty by Lassiter gave the Cowboys another first down at the 1 and they scored on the next play to cut the lead to 23-20.

Injuries

LB Azeez Al-Shaair sat out Sunday with a groin injury and it’s unclear if he’ll return this week. … CB Jaylin Smith left in the second quarter Sunday with a hamstring injury. … DT Jaden Crumedy injured his shoulder in the third quarter.

Key number

1 — Only the 1992 Chargers rebounded from an 0-4 start to make the playoffs.

Next steps

The Texans have a good chance of finally getting their first win this week as they travel to meet the Titans, who are also 0-4. Houston has won three straight and six of the past seven over Tennessee.

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