Will Anderson Jr. didn’t sugarcoat what went wrong after the Texans’ 34-30 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.
Houston is 0-4 now, and Anderson made it clear where he thinks the problem sits: the defense has to close games out. The Texans had a 30-27 lead with just over two minutes left, but Dallas went 74 yards for the go-ahead touchdown and handed Houston another painful finish.
“Just got to finish, walk in, do your job,” Anderson said. “It starts with all of us. All of us have to look ourselves in the mirror.”
That was the theme of his postgame message. No excuses, no finger-pointing, no escape hatch for a defense that couldn’t get one more stop after C.J. Stroud and the offense had put the team in position to win.
“We got to hold up our end of the bargain, man,” Anderson said. “We got to get better. We got to continue to grow, we got to continue to go through this fire.”
Anderson also pointed to what Stroud has done on the other side of the ball.
“CJ’s been balling, the offense has been doing a good job,” Anderson said. “We just got to hold up our end of the bargain.”
Stroud threw for 347 yards and two touchdowns against Dallas and did not turn the ball over. Houston scored 30 points, but it still wasn’t enough because the defense couldn’t protect the late lead for the second straight week.
For Anderson, the issue is bigger than one drive. He said the Texans have to be better in the moments that decide games.
“We got to be able to stop those plays at those big times,” he said.
He also put the responsibility squarely on the locker room itself.
“Nobody’s coming to save us,” Anderson said. “We got to go out there and play long-game football, and we got to take accountability in order to do our jobs.”
That message landed with a team that clearly expected more when the season began. Houston has talent on all three levels, but the Texans have yet to put it together consistently. Anderson’s comments showed the frustration, but also the urgency, inside a team that still has time to turn things around.
The challenge is simple from here: when the offense gives Houston the lead late, the defense has to finish the job.
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