How could a 4-8 team that was out of the playoffs come into the venue of an 8-4 division leader, coming off of a big win in prime time, and knock them off?
To hear quarterback Deshaun Watson’s summary of how the Denver Broncos were able to cream the Houston Texans 38-24, it was all a matter of execution.
“We turned the ball over,” Watson told reporters after the loss wherein he threw two interceptions as part of the club’s three total turnovers. “We didn’t capitalize on the fourth down. That was pretty much it. We were moving the ball. We got, however many, [414] yards. It wasn’t anything we didn’t do. We just didn’t execute it.”
While the Texans punted to conclude the game’s opening drive, the Broncos struck first blood with a touchdown. Throw in a receiver Keke Coutee fumble returned for a score, another punt from Houston, and quarterback Drew Lock throwing his second touchdown of the day, and the Texans faced a 21-0 hole with 11:31 to go until halftime.
“Like I said, we didn’t execute our game plan,” Watson explained. “They executed theirs. They did what they were prepared to do.”
The Texans were 6-of-13 on third down for the game with a 2-of-4 rate on fourth down. Houston also had more penalties than the opposition with nine for 44 yards compared to the Broncos’ seven for 50.
In a game where the Texans needed a win to establish their second consecutive winning season and also get further on track to win the AFC South, Houston played down to the competition. The quickest way to fall behind to a team that may finish at the bottom of their respective division is to not execute.
The Texans must find a way to execute better in Week 15 at Nissan Stadium when they take on the Tennessee Titans to commence the season series. At 8-5, same as the Texans, the winner would get an inside track to taking the division.