The Texans came up with a season-best five takeaways from the Dolphins, but it still wasn't enough for a victory.
Houston was handed its eighth-straight loss of 2021, as Miami took a 17-9 decision at Hard Rock Stadium. Despite picking off two passes and coming up with three more fumble recoveries, the Texans were unable to convert those chances into enough points for a win.
"Usually, when you get five turnovers from your defense, you expect to win," Texans Head Coach David Culley said. "But not when you have four on your offense."
The Texans defense began the game with a three-and-out. On Miami's third drive of the day, DB Eric Murray picked off a Jacoby Brissett pass at the Dolphins' 31-yard line. DL Maliek Collins added another interception later when DL Ross Blacklock tipped a pass. Murray explained how Houston was able to come up with the ball five times.
"Rush and coverage worked really well together," Murray said. "We just kept our eyes on the quarterback. We were able to flush him out of the pocket, make him move around a little bit and throw some passes that he didn't want to throw."
Early in the second quarter, LB Kamu Grugier-Hill punched the ball loose from Myles Gaskin after the Dolphins running back picked up five yards. DL Roy Lopez recovered the fumble at the Miami 33-yard line.
The Texans special teams unit came up with a fumble recovery when DB A.J. Moore dislodged the ball from return man Jevon Holland. LB Kevin Pierre-Louis pounced on it at the Miami 23-yard line with 5:30 left before half, but after each of those two recoveries in Dolphins territory, Houston was able to muster just six points off K Ka'imi Fairbairn field goals.
"You're not going to win football games in this league kicking field goals," Culley said. "We had an opportunity to get points down there and get touchdowns, and we didn't execute."
DL Jacob Martin strip-sacked Brissett in the fourth quarter and Collins recovered that fumble at the Houston 40-yard line. The offense wasn't able to get points off that late takeaway.
"We've got to get more turnovers," Collins said. "We've got to give our offense more opportunities to score. It's frustrating, but that's the way the game goes sometimes. Sometimes you've got to score on defense. Nothing against our offense, but maybe we could've done more."
Houston now has 14 takeaways in 2021.
The Texans won't play again until Sunday, November 21, at Tennessee.
The next time you can see the Texans at NRG Stadium will be on November 28 as they host the New York Jets in Week 12. Kickoff is set for noon CT. Click here for tickets.
