DeMeco Ryans and the Texans fumbled their fourth quarter in Seattle in more ways than one — and the clock is ticking for a 2025 turnaround

Three decisions in particular loom for Houston as missed opportunities in the final three minutes alone. Houston took a 1st & goal from the Seattle 3-yard line with 3:01 remaining in regulation. After an incomplete pass, the Texans chose to run up the middle with 2:55 remaining. They lost a yard and rolled a fully 40 seconds off the clock before their next play — and 51 seconds in total by the end of the play in question, a touchdown to rookie running back Woody Marks.

Time management in that moment? Not great. But then the Texans, trailing by nine, decided to kick the extra point as compared to going for two with 2:04 remaining in regulation. Deferring the decision to go for two may be overlooked among the other mistakes, but doing so puts you at a strategic disadvantage later. Your two-point play is either going to succeed for fail. Should it fail, you would want to know with as much time left as possible in order to give yourself as good a chance possible to manage clock and also get the necessary possessions to score twice if needed.

Houston Texans fourth-quarter miscues versus Seahawks in Week 7

• Possession ends on downs inside the Seattle 5-yard line with 5:08 remaining
• Burned 51 seconds of clock in the final 3 minutes between plays in a goal-to-go situation
• Decided not to go for a two-point conversion with 2:04 remaining
• Allowed kickoff return to burn 2-minute warning and lose timeout
• Tim Settle called for personal foul for pile-jumping on a third-down stop in final minute

And then there was the kickoff decision. Seattle was able to return the ensuring kickoff, which started at 2:04 of clock left, and burn 6 seconds, costing the Texans a down and a timeout on their ensuring defensive possession. Had no play result on the ensuing defensive possession change, barring Tim Settle's pile-jumping, Houston could have feasibly gotten the ball back with 1:10 left in regulation down eight.

They never got the chance. And when you compound those decisions with a missed opportunity from Seattle's 3-yard line earlier in the fourth quarter, a possession in which Houston got zero points, DeMeco Ryans' team likely had a very long, frustrating flight home as a 2-4 football team.

It was a hard matchup made harder by some decisions down the stretch. And Houston paid the price for it. As the gap widens between them and the Colts atop the AFC South, the question for the Texans now is how quickly they'll be able to learn for next time.

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