Dalton Schultz Shoulders the Blame, but Texans' Offensive Collapse Was a Perfect Storm
The Houston Texans’ season came to a crashing halt in Foxborough, and while the 28-16 loss to the Patriots in the Divisional round will sting for a while, the conversation afterward has quickly shifted from disappointment to accountability.
C.J. Stroud had the worst outing of his young NFL career, throwing four interceptions and completing fewer than half of his passes in a cold, rain-soaked game that looked more like a survival test than a playoff showdown. But if you ask tight end Dalton Schultz, the loss wasn’t on the quarterback.
In a candid appearance on SportsRadio 610, Schultz didn’t just defend his quarterback-he took the blame head-on.
“The results of that game, it’s hard to pin it all on him [Stroud], as a player,” Schultz said. “In my eyes, that game was my fault.
I left the game in the first quarter. It was a big game plan for me, and I wasn’t able to be out there.”
It’s not often you see a player step up and take the fall like that, especially when the box score points so clearly to the quarterback’s struggles. But Schultz’s words weren’t empty.
He had already logged two catches for 47 yards in the opening quarter before exiting with an injury. That kind of early production from a tight end tells you he was going to be a central figure in the Texans’ offensive attack.
And then, just like that, he was gone-and the offense never looked the same.
All four of Stroud’s interceptions came after Schultz left the game. Without his safety valve over the middle, Stroud was forced to press in brutal weather conditions, and the Patriots defense made him pay. Add in the absence of top wideout Nico Collins-who couldn’t clear concussion protocol after getting hurt in the Wild Card win over Pittsburgh-and suddenly Stroud was operating without two of his most trusted weapons.
Schultz acknowledged that his own preparation may have contributed to the injury that sidelined him, saying, *“I look back, and I'm like, ‘Well, shoot. Obviously, I didn't do enough to get my body where it needed to be in that moment.’
That’s literally all I’ve been thinking about.” *
That kind of self-reflection isn’t just admirable-it’s rare. But it also underscores just how much the Texans were counting on him in that game. For a young quarterback like Stroud, who thrives on timing and rhythm, losing Schultz and Collins in a playoff game against a Bill Belichick-coached defense is a recipe for disaster.
Yes, Stroud struggled. Yes, the turnovers were costly.
But context matters. He was playing in the worst conditions of his career, on the road, without his top two targets, and still trying to will his team into the AFC Championship.
This wasn’t just one player having a bad day-it was a perfect storm of injuries, weather, and missed opportunities.
For the Texans, the loss marks their third straight Divisional round exit. But this one might be the hardest to swallow, not just because of how it happened, but because of how close this team felt to breaking through.
The offseason will bring its usual questions-about depth, durability, and how to help Stroud take the next step. But if there’s a silver lining, it’s that this locker room isn’t shying away from accountability. Schultz’s comments show a team that’s willing to own its mistakes and grow from them.
That’s the kind of foundation you can build on.