Boo! Inept Texans' Offense Scarier Than Ever in Halloween Blowout

Hapless Houston falls behind 38-0 and crashes to 1-7

Fans of the dark side should've merely worn a Houston Texans' logo for their Halloween costumes.

Right now - after yet another blood-bath loss - there is nothing scarier.

The most frightening part of Sunday's misleading 38-22 loss to the Los Angeles Rams at NRG Stadium: Coach David Culley's team visibly quit. It's one thing to play bad. It's another to not play hard.

The gravity of this season has fallen squarely on top of the Texans, now fully aware that the remainder of 2021 is nothing more than a series of auditions for 2022 and beyond. Houston is trading and releasing veterans, with a keen eye on the future.

The 7-1 Rams entered as solid two-touchdown favorites. No shame in the 1-7 Texans losing. But late in the second quarter, the quitting commenced. It was a horrible holding penalty on Vernon Hargreaves that opened the floodgates, turning his clear 4th-down stop in the end zone into a first-and-goal. Down 17-0, Texans safety Justin Reid stood flat-footed five yards deep in the end zone and merely watched - not even taking a step toward filling the hole - as Rams' running back Darrell Henderson Jr. waltzed in for a touchdown run that made it 24-0.

As bad as the defense was, it's hard to blame them when saddled with such a sad-sack offense. Only when this game reached 38-0 and the Rams benched their starters did Houston show a pulse.

When rookie quarterback Davis Mills led a drive that ended in running back Rex Burkhead's touchdown plunge, it ended a touchdown-less drought that spanned 38 possessions and more than 200 minutes of football.

Houston scored two more late, meaningless touchdowns to skew the window dressing and make the final margin appear respectable. Maybe the late surge is momentum the Texans can take into the rest of the season.

Or, to make each a week fair fight, maybe the Texans can play the opponent's jayvee?