Cam Skattebo didn’t just run through the Houston Texans’ defense for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, he *bounced* off them like a pinball. That 16-yard score, where one defender got his hands on him, another lowered a shoulder, and a third whiffed, yet none could bring him down, perfectly encapsulated Houston’s defensive nightmare in Sunday’s 27-21 overtime loss to the Giants.
Missed Tackles Are a Season-Long Sickness
It’s not just one play, folks. This team has a serious tackling problem. Safety M.J. Stewart straight up said it: “We just missed tackles at crucial times.” This wasn’t some isolated incident either. Will Anderson Jr. mentioned that tackling was supposed to be a key to victory, but clearly, nobody got the memo on wrapping up opposing players. Linebacker Henry To’oTo’o was blunt, reminding everyone that their scheme is *built* around stopping the run, which means they absolutely have to get guys on the ground. And Azeez Al-Shaair, man, he didn’t mince words, admitting the tackling “hasn’t been good enough all year.” That’s a red flag waving in your face, loud and clear.
Big Plays at the Worst Possible Moments
Yeah, Al-Shaair said the Texans’ defense made some plays against New York, but that’s like saying a leaky boat has some dry spots. The Giants’ best moments? They happened exactly when it mattered most. Case in point: overtime. Three plays. That’s all it took for the Giants to go 81 yards and walk off with the game-winning touchdown. Skattebo ripped off 42 yards right up the middle, then Devin Singletary punched it in for 30 more. Just like that, game over. Al-Shaair summed it up, “They made the plays that they were supposed to make to win the game, and we didn’t.” It wasn’t just in OT, either. An unnecessary roughness penalty put the Giants behind the sticks in the first quarter, only for J.J. McCarthy to find Malachi Fields for a 47-yard catch, with Fields getting 32 of those yards *after* the catch. Fields then crushed them twice more on third downs, moving the chains with a 20-yarder and a 14-yard completion that set up Skattebo’s infamous score. Coach DeMeco Ryans laid it out: “We’ve got to be able to cover in man coverage. We got to be able to tackle. That’s football.” He’s right, there’s no magic solution here. “No magical elixir is going to drop out of the sky and, ‘Oh, now, you’re going to fix it.’ We fix it by putting the work in and getting better at fundamentals of football and that’s where we’ve got to just own it.” For the Texans, owning it means getting back to basics, because right now, this defense is giving up huge plays and it cost them a crucial game.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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