HOUSTON – It was yet another heavy moment of frustration for the Texans’ sputtering offense, off to an early, ugly start to the season.
Players shook their heads and clenched their fists after a prime scoring opportunity was squandered.
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Arguably, there was no more head-shaking moment about the Texans’ overhauled and ineffective offense than failing to score on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during a head-scratching 20-19 loss Monday night at NRG Stadium despite three shots at their one-yard line.
“You can make a bunch of excuses, but we’re just not getting it done,” Stroud said. “At the end of the day, that’s all that matters.”
A promising drive early in the fourth quarter, one that could have grabbed the momentum back and reclaimed the lead, evaporated into nothing. Zero points.
After wide receiver Nico Collins picked up a first down at the Buccaneers’ one-yard line after being tackled by Jamel Dean, the offense couldn’t budge a stout defense. First, veteran running back Nick Chubb was stonewalled by massive Buccaneers nose tackle Vita Vea for no gain after left offensive guard Laken Tomlinson got shoved backwards.
A lob intended for Collins, a returning Pro Bowl wide receiver, was just a bit off and glanced off his outstretched hands incomplete. An overthrown pass on fourth down ended the drive.
“We just didn’t get the ball in the end zone,” Stroud said. “That’s kind of plain, kind of simple. We just didn’t get the ball in the end zone. That’s all I can really think of.”
Breaking down 0-2 #Texans 20-19 #MNF loss to #Buccaneers @KPRC2 with @KPRC2RandyMc @KPRCNick pic.twitter.com/t0rmivsLYW
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) September 16, 2025
It was emblematic of how the Texans’ offense hasn’t gotten better despite retooling the offensive line after trading five-time Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil and installing four new starters with only Tytus Howard back and center Jarrett Patterson in the lineup again after Jake Andrews’ high-ankle sprain.
The Texans’ offense scored its first touchdown of the season in the first quarter on a great throw by Stroud and an outstanding, acrobatic catch by Collins in the first quarter. However, they went 0 for 2 in the red zone, are 0 for 3 in red zone opportunities through two games and are the lone team in the NFL that has yet to score a red-zone touchdown.
“We didn’t have any space,” Ryans said. “We didn’t move anybody off the line of scrimmage, which is what I saw. So, getting hit in the backfield and went to try to throw the ball, thought we had some matchups. I thought we had the opportunity to hit Nico in the corner there but the ball was out of bounds. Yeah, tried to run the ball in, we got knocked back and we couldn’t get the ball in.
“We tried to find Nico there a couple times, to get the ball, and we just didn’t connect. We didn’t make the plays we needed to make. That’s the summation of this game. The NFL is going to come down to a two-minute drive in the fourth quarter. Are you making plays or not? We had multiple opportunities to win that game and we didn’t make the plays we needed to make.”
The Texans went 2 for 9 on third down. They rushed for just 84 yards on 19 carries. Under heavy duress and already sacked a combined six times through two games, Stroud completed 5 of 11 passes in the second half for a 68.8 passer rating. In the first half, he went 8 for 13 for a 121.0 passer rating and one touchdown.
Added pressure caused Houston to throw for 76 yards in the second half compared to its 131 in the first half. Stroud was 8-for-13 passing with a 121.0 quarterback rating in the first half compared to 5-for-11 and a 68.8 rating in the second half.
“Everybody will talk crazy: ‘We suck, we this, we that,’” Stroud said. “At the end of the day, we got to stay together and mesh well. Be honest and have hard conversations, but right now we need more confidence as an offense, at least.
“Confidently playing better together, I think that’s a big thing. We haven’t played together, a lot of us, so the more confidence we build I think the better we will be off.”
The Texans, two games behind the undefeated Indianapolis Colts in the AFC South division Houston won the past two seasons, mustered just a dozen first downs overall, 13 less than the Buccaneers.
The Buccaneers built a time of possession advantage of 37:09 to the Texans’ paltry 22:51.
They had only 266 yards of total offense, compared to the Buccaneers’ 360 yards. And Stroud completed just 13 of 24 passes for 207 yards and a 97.0 passer rating. It was a far cry from his five-touchdown comeback win he engineered over the Buccaneers two years ago during his NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year campaign.
“I have to look at the film,” Ryans said when asked about Stroud’s performance. “Obviously, we go out on offense, it’s a collective effort. We go two-for-nine on third down, what do we expect? If we can’t get the ball in at the goal line, what do we expect is going to happen? Everybody on offense has to make plays.
“Defense, we got to make a play there. We had multiple opportunities at the end of the game to close it out. We got to tackle better and we got to make the plays. It’s no magic secret or any secret sauce. We got to stand up and make the plays. If you want to be a big-time player in this league you got to show up and make plays.”
The Texans entered this season with heavy ambitions of making a serious playoff run after going 0-6 all-time in the AFC divisional round, including falling short to the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens under Ryans’ direction the past two seasons.
Despite a blocked punt from fullback Jakob Johnson, a dynamic 53-yard punt return from rookie Jaylin Noel, four sacks of Mayfield, who outdueled Stroud from an accuracy and production standpoint, it simply wasn’t good enough.
The offensive line isn’t what it needs to be, at least not yet, not good enough to beat good teams like the Los Angeles Rams and the Buccaneers.
“We had communication issues up front,” Ryans said. “They got us on some blitzes, things that we’ve seen, we work on. We have to look at the film to see what those issues were. We got to, of course, not have those and make sure we’re picking things up the right way.”
The Texans also need to take a long, hard look in the mirror and figure some things out. They’re off to a rough start and need to right the ship starting this week on the road with their first AFC South divisional game of the season at the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“It’s a young offense,” Stroud said.
The Texans briefly held a 19-14 lead on Chubb’s 25-yard touchdown run, but Stroud was sacked on a two-point conversion attempt. Instead of a seven-point lead, it was just a five-point edge.
Mayfield converted a key fourth down, busting through an arm tackle attempt by linebacker Henry To’oTo’o. Six plays later, running back Rachaad White won the game for Tampa Bay on a touchdown run with six seconds to play to cap a 80-yard, 11 play drive. Ballgame.
Do the Texans have enough on offense to orchestrate Caley’s game plans?
“We got the guys we need,” Ryans said. “We just have to execute better.”
Bottom line: The Texans are faltering. This isn’t the kind of performances they had envisioned. They’re 0-2. That’s the reality of their situation. It’s time to assess things and start climbing upward.
“It’s no hole,” Ryans insisted. “We lost the game. We lost two games, games we should have won. To win games you got to play better. You got to coach better.
“It starts with me. I got to coach better. We got to play better and execute better. You got to go win games. You’re not going to be given games. So, we got to find a way to make those plays.”
What’s the overriding message to the team from Stroud, a team captain, after this rough start to the season.
“Stay together, stay committed to one another, trust in one another,” Stroud said. “The sun will rise in the morning. It’s not the end of the world. At the same time, we all get paid a service, to do a job, and we got to get those jobs done at a faster rate.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com