How Texans’ lead evaporated in last-second 15-13 loss to Panthers: ‘We’ve got to learn how to handle success’

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The final minutes of the Texans’ ultra-frustrating road loss decided and defined why they were ultimately left shaking their heads as they trudged out of the locker room late Sunday afternoon.

Self-inflicted errors and a lack of attention to detail proved costly for the Texans as they were defeated, 15-13, to the previously winless Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium.

When the Texans cut it too close on a pivotal third down and were flagged for delay of game, even though rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud was sure there was at least one second remaining on the play clock during the Texans’ final possession of the game while clinging to a 13-12 lead in the fourth quarter, it definitely hurt their chances of winning.

The penalty pushed the Texans from the Panthers’ 35-yard line back to the 40-yard line and cost them an opportunity to perhaps increase their lead to four points on a potential Ka’imi Fairbairn field goal. Stroud threw incomplete to wide receiver Tank Dell on the ensuing 3rd-and-10, and the Texans punted.

That set the stage for the Panthers’ 15-play, 86-yard game-winning drive capped by a 23-yard field goal from kicker Eddie Pineiro that was preceded by four Texans penalties, including a defensive pass interference on corner Shaq Griffin, an offsides penalty on defensive end Will Anderson Jr. and unnecessary roughness, offsides and unsportsmanlike conduct calls on nickel Tavierre Thomas as he tried in vain to disrupt the kicker.

Ten penalties for 70 yards for the Texans, three penalties for 20 yards for the Panthers made a major difference in the outcome of the game.

“We’ve got to learn how to handle success,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “Young team, growing. As we continue to grow, continue to learn, you’ve got to learn how to handle success. How do you work after a win? You can’t get too up and too down in this league.

“We have to remain consistent. We have to continue to put in the same work, that same desperation you have when you’ve lost a game, you have to have that every single week The learning lesson in this is you have to learn how to prepare after a success.”

If it wasn’t the penalty bug infecting both sides of the football, it was another type of error.

Fullback Andrew Beck, who scored on a 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to open the game’s scoring, lost a key fumble in the third quarter forced by cornerback Donte Jackson and recovered by safety Xavier Woods.

The Panthers quickly converted the change of possession into a 37-yard field goal for a 12-7 lead.

“I think the fumble really hurt us,” Beck said. “I think we played well enough to beat that team. They’re a good team despite their record.”

The Texans sputtered on offense, gaining just 229 yard of total offense as they average 4.1 yards on 56 plays. Rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud ran for one touchdown on a quarterback sneak to retake the lead in the third quarter, but was limited to a season-low 140 passing yards and no touchdowns for just the second time this season.

“When plays presented themselves, they made them, we didn’t,” Texans offensive guard Tytus Howard said. “It’s as simple as that. They made the plays when presented themselves and we didn’t. They were the better team today. Basically, we can’t shoot ourselves in the foot. Too many penalties in critical situations throughout the game, and they capitalized off of it.”

The 3rd-and-5 penalty was a pivotal moment in the defeat.

“We would like to made a play there and not hurt ourselves,” Ryans said. “I felt like that’s indicative of the entire game, too many costly penalties at the wrong time.

“Third down penalties, going backwards on offense, penalties hurting ourselves. Just overall we have to do a better job of cleaning that up for the entire team.”

The Texans needed a greater sense of urgency on that play they never got to run and more tempo at getting out of the huddle.

“I could have sworn I seen it go down to two,” Stroud said. “At one, I snapped it, and they called it. I’m a player. I can’t go back and try to combat that. That’s a penalty that right when it happens, it happens. We’ve got to get better getting in and out of the huddle.

“I’ve got to split the players out better and snap the ball. The motion was so long, and it’s tough to have that type of motion in such a long drive because guys were tired and stuff. I’ve got to send them quicker and be better there. I thought I got it off, but it is what it is.”

After six consecutive runs from Chuba Hubbard ate up the clock and forced the Texans to burn their three timeouts, Pineior kicked it three times as Thomas kept jumping offsides to try to rattle him. He made all three kicks.

“They didn’t want to lose that game and they were trying their absolute best to get in my head,” Pineiro said. “Hopefully, they have a safe flight back to Houston.”

Thomas was doing anything he could to stop Pineiro from converting the winning kick. He said he inadvertently ran into holder Johnny Hekker.

“It was sell-out, my coach told me don’t let it go through the uprights,” Thomas said. “I didn’t try to hit the dude the first time. He was just right there and I fell over him. We were trying to get their kicker frazzled and then miss the kick. They gave me the penalty. It is what it is, but I was trying to help us win the game.

“I feel like that last possession we’ve got to get off the field. We can’t let nobody drive 80, 90 yards on us. We’ve got to get off the field. We get rid of the penalties, it would have be a whole different situation.”

Instead of improving to a 4-3 record, the Texans dropped to 3-4 and 2 1/2 games behind the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC South division.

“Losses are always tough,” Ryans said. “Hate to lose, but what can we learn from it? They won the game, it’s over. What can we go back and study, what can we learn from and grow from this loss?

With 10 games remaining in the regular season, the Texans have ample opportunities to improve. They could arguably make the playoffs one year after a 3-13-1 season. They already handily defeated the division-leading Jaguars.

“We’ve got a lot of football left to play,” Stroud said. “And I think we’ve showed our potential, but we’ve got to stay there. We can’t keep going back. I think maybe the bye week maybe slowed us down. Hopefully we just keep momentum.

“We play really good one week and then we play off the next. We can’t do that if we want to be consistent and want to be playoff contenders and win the division. We’ve got to come and bring it every week.”

There’s almost always a fine line between winning and losing in the NFL. On Sunday, the Panthers, off to an 0-6 start, played like the hungrier and more precise football team.

“It’s just a matter of understanding situational ball,” said defensive end Jonathan Greenard, who led the Texans with 2 1/2 sacks and four quarterback hits. “A lot of us, we have a lot of young guys at certain positions. So understanding that the small mistakes in the beginning part might not seem like much, but it adds up.

“They were 0-6, so they didn’t have anything to lose. At that point, they were playing with their backs against the wall, at home as well coming off the bye. We have been there. We understand how that goes and understand what type of team that is. When you give every team like that any chance of hope, they can run with it.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com.