Jaguars' Hated Rival Texans Taking Chiefs Loss the Wrong Way

The Houston Texans need to do some soul searching.

Not because for the second year in a row they have to lick their wounds after a second-round loss in the playoffs; the fact they have won playoff games in back-to-back years is a testament to the success of their rebuild.

Instead, the Texans need to find out why their locker room looked for all of the worst excuses for their 23-14 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs -- and why their head coach endorsed it.

The Texans made mistake after mistake vs. the Chiefs, allowing eight sacks and one of the highest pressure rates in recent playoff history. They had self-inflicted penalties that set up the Chiefs in scoring position as early as the first drive of the game.

Instead of owning up to those mistakes and taking the loss on the chin, though, the Texans locker room pointed the fingers at the referees. Not themselves, but the officials.

From C.J. Stroud to Will Anderson to Joe Mixon, the leaders and stars of the Texans' locker room made it seem like they only lost because of a ticky tack call here and there. Their head coach seemed to agree with them, a sign of the Texans' locker room following their leader.

"We knew going into this game it was us versus everybody. When I say everybody, it is everybody," Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans said after the game.

"Knowing, going into this game, what we were up against, we cannot make the mistakes that we made. We had a lot of self-inflicted mistakes that happened. Whether it is special teams, not converting our kicks, defensively not being where we are supposed to be in coverage. Offensively not protecting our quarterback, keeping him clean. You know you add that on top of everything else that we had to deal with. It is going to be a real tough uphill battle."

The Texans had a chance to walk out of Arrowhead Stadium with their heads held high, knowing they took the NFL's top dynasty into the fourth quarter. That is what the Jaguars did in 2022 after a game with several calls that didn't go their way. But instead of blaming the referees, the Jaguars blamed themselves.

Houston should have done that. They should be a more matured team at this point. Instead, it looks like they still have some growing up to do.

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