HOUSTON – The final score of 38-22 doesn’t seem too dramatic, but for the first three quarters of Sunday’s game, the Houston Texans seemed lifeless.
Matthew Stafford and the Rams held a 6-1 record heading into the game at NRG Stadium, and even without starters Andrew Whitworth and Sebastian Joseph-Day, had no problem rolling past Houston. In fact, Rams head coach Sean McVay opted to pull the veteran quarterback when the scoreboard read 38-0.
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“It’s very disappointing,” Texans head coach David Culley said. “It’s frustrating.”
That fourth quarter, with many of the Rams’ starters pulled from the game, offered a chance for the Texans to score. First, Rex Burkhead did so with a one-yard scoring run. Then, Davis Mills threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Brandin Cooks, and Brevin Jordan also found the end zone, as Mills showed his ability to throw accurately.
For Culley, that fourth quarter offered hope.
“I’m disappointed and I’m frustrated, but I’m not discouraged with this football team, simply because I saw at the end there that, first of all, they’re not going to quit,” Culley said. “We’ve just got to play better. We’ve got to coach better.”
Quarterback questions loom over the Texans franchise, with reports that Deshaun Watson could be traded before the trade deadline this coming Tuesday. Culley wouldn’t confirm whether or not Tyrod Taylor could return as the starting quarterback.
“We’ve got to continue to play better,” he said. “We know what that process is, we know what we have to do, we’re not there yet. We’re going to keep coaching it.”
Each week has been a struggle for Houston after that first win against Jacksonville.
Perhaps Culley summed it up best with his first quote to the media after the loss:
“They whooped our butts.”