Analysis: How the Texans scrooged fans on Christmas with blundering loss vs. Ravens

Only the Houston Texans could manage to make a city mad on Christmas Day.

Well, at least Beyoncé showed up for his city.

Outside of a Kamari Lassiter safety during the second quarter against All-Pro running back Derrick Henry, there was no peace or love from the Houston Texans on a Holiday built around those core values.

C.J. Stroud struggled to build any early momentum.

The defense allowed Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson to break a once-improbable record while catapulting him back into the running for league MVP.

Oh, and the Texans couldn’t convert on fourth down en route to a 31-2 loss at NRG Stadium.

But at least Queen Bey shut the house down during her halftime performance. Midway through the third quarter, fans were begging for her to have an encore to stop the bleeding on the field.

Jackson, the reigning MVP, threw for 168 yards and tacked on 87 more with his legs, including a 48-yard touchdown to kickstart the third quarter. With his performance, the two-time MVP surpassed Michael Vick as the all-time leading rushing quarterback with 6,110 career yards.

Henry might have been stopped in the end zone to get Houston (9-7) on the board, but he more than made up for his blunder with a 147-yard performance on the ground. He also set the Ravens season record with his 16th touchdown on a 2-yard run in the first quarter.

Henry, who spent the first eight years of his career with the Tennessee Titans,  eclipsed Ray Rice (2011) and Mark Ingram (2019) for the title.

Stroud, who completed 57.7% of his throws for 185 yards and an interception, wasn’t the only problem, but his lulls carried on over into the third quarter.

After deferring, Houston came out swinging on the opening drive in the third quarter, only to have Stroud toss an interception to Kyle Hamilton at the Ravens’ 32.

Two plays later, Jackson was off to the end zone and the score grew to 24-2.

The second-year quarterback was sacked five times and was 4-of-15 on third-down conversions. John Metchie led the Texans in place of Tank Dell with five catches for 48 yards.

Nico Collins totaled 59 yards off three passes. Joe Mixon was held in check with 28 yards off nine carries.

The offensive woes have lingered since Stefon Diggs’ season-ending injury in Week 8. The defensive blunders were a new one. Jackson should have been brought down for a sack on multiple occasions but turned improvisation into ample gains and a fresh set of downs.

The Ravens finished with 432 yards, the most given yards given up by a defense since Week 11′ 34-10 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football.

Houston has 11 days off to respond before they hit the road to take on the  Titans at Nissan Stadium on Jan. 5 for the regular-season finale.