As a mix of rain and flurries fell, the Houston Texans were shellshocked by a fast, tenacious New England Patriots defense Sunday, losing 28-16.
The double-digit loss in the AFC divisional round marked the third consecutive year head coach DeMeco Ryans and the Texans have failed to reach a conference title game. The same can be said for the franchise, which was established in 2002.
The Texans Remain Committed to C.J. Stroud
Questions surrounding the quarterback always seem to surface following a dismal postseason performance. “Dismal” may even be an understatement for C.J. Stroud’s outing on Sunday. He threw four first-half interceptions and registered a passer rating of 28.0, the lowest mark of his three-year career.
Ryans did not flinch in his effort to express confidence in Stroud and reaffirm that he is the right signal-caller to lead the team into the future.
“C.J.’s our guy,” he said, according to ESPN. “I believed that he could come back out in the second half and flip it. I believed he could play better, and he did that in the second half. He did play better. We had some positive drives in the second half. I believed he’d do that and he did that.”
“C.J. [Stroud] is our guy.”
DeMeco Ryans on his QB after the Texans’ loss in the playoffs. pic.twitter.com/KRUPqBMlEe
— ESPN (@espn) January 19, 2026
Thanks in large part to their defense, the Texans had multiple opportunities to close the gap on the Patriots in the final two quarters. They engineered a pair of field-goal drives in the third quarter that brought them within five points. However, the levee finally broke when Patriots quarterback Drake Maye connected with wide receiver Kayshon Boutte for a 32-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to pull away.
The Texans’ defense was only able to sustain its success for so long. Outside of the two second-half drives that resulted in field goals, the Texans punted twice and lost possession twice — once on a fumble and once on a turnover on downs.
Stroud went 10-of-21 for 88 yards in the second half. No matter how many opportunities he and the offense had, they failed to capitalize, but Ryans’ faith never wavered.
“As I always tell our guys at halftime, it doesn’t matter what happened in the first half; you have to flush it, remove it, and go out there and finish the right way,” Ryans said. “We’ve been there before. We’ve been in situations much more dire than this, and we were able to bounce back, so there was no doubt in my mind we’d be able to overcome that.”
The Texans’ offense was without Pro Bowl wide receiver Nico Collins, who sustained a concussion in last week’s wild-card victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. They also lost starting tight end Dalton Schultz after he suffered a calf injury during a 42-yard reception on the Texans’ second offensive possession of the game. Schultz’s backup, Cade Stover, left the game in the fourth quarter with a knee injury.
