Defensive end J.J. Watt isn’t going to blame the Houston Texans offense’s late fumble for the 37-31 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
For the third time in four weeks, the Houston Texans offense lost a fumble on their final drive to seal a disappointing loss.
Week 16’s rendition was quarterback Deshaun Watson getting strip-sacked by defensive lineman Sam Hubbard and defensive lineman Margus Hunt recovering at the Houston 33 to protect the Cincinnati Bengals’ 34-31 lead with 1:28 to go in the game. Ultimately, the Bengals added three insurance points to vanquish Houston 37-31.
However, defensive end J.J. Watt won’t blame his teammates on the other side of the ball for the consequential giveaway.
“It’s never one play,” Watt said. “It’s like I said before, it’s never one play that loses you a football game. It doesn’t matter what type of play it is. There’s 60 full minutes of a game. To say any one play, even if it comes down to the last play of a game, there’s a whole 60 minutes that lead up to that, so it’s never one play.”
In fact, the Texans wouldn’t have needed to drive for a game-winning touchdown, or settle for a game-tying field goal, if the defense prevented Cincinnati running back Samaje Perine from scoring a 3-yard touchdown. Along with the extra point, Cincinnati took a 34-31 lead.
“I mean, we gave up 540 total yards, 29 of 38 passing,” said Watt. “I mean, screens, quick passes, balls out to open guys. We cannot — you can’t do that. It’s very frustrating, obviously. You can win on a game; you can win a pass rusher on the edge and you’re not going to get there; the ball is gone. We didn’t stop the run. We played horrendously. It’s harsh, but that is the fact of what we did today, and it is extremely frustrating.”
The Texans have a chance to close out a game as they finish the regular season in Week 17 against the Tennessee Titans at NRG Stadium.
