Not everyone who paid for a ticket at NRG Stadium saw C.J. Stroud lead the Houston Texans to a fascinating 39-37 comeback against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
When Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield hit tight end Cade Otton for a 14-yard touchdown to pull ahead 37-33 with 49 seconds left, some faint-hearted Houston fans hit the exits.
Coach DeMeco Ryans told reporters Nov. 6 that he was not bothered by any signs of unfaithfulness by a fraction of the fan base.
“It doesn’t mean anything to me,” said Ryans. “If people want to be here, they’ll show up. And if you want to stay through the entire game, you’ll stay. We just go play our game. We’ll play until the clock says 0:00.”
One can’t particularly blame the fans for leaving early. The Texans had lost Week 5 against the Atlanta Falcons and Week 8 against the Carolina Panthers in similar fashion, albeit with walk-off field goals. The fans should have at least stayed as Stroud and the offense had one final shot, an opportunity not afforded to the Texans in the other two losses.
Nevertheless Ryans values the adoration from Clutch City sports fans.
Said Ryans: “We love our fans for showing up and being loud. I think that’s where our fans really affected the game yesterday for us. Caused some penalties for them on offense, caused some timeouts to be called, so our fans matter. They affect the game. They’re in the stands and they’re loud, it affects the game. But we’re going to play until the clock says 0:00 no matter who is in the stands.”
Houston won’t have the benefit of the home crowd as the Texans go on the road to face the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday at 12:00 p.m. Central Time at Paycor Stadium.
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