The season for the Houston Texans ended on Saturday night with a 23-14 loss to the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.
There were some close moments, including toward the end of the third quarter, when the Texans pulled to within one point of the Chiefs, 13-12, with just over four minutes remaining, but in the end, the prevailing sentiment for Houston was disappointment.
"I'm walking out of here discouraged," Head Coach DeMeco Ryans said.
"This one hurts because I know we're a better football team than we showed today. No matter who we're playing against."
Quarterback C.J. Stroud completed 19-of-28 passes for 245 yards and a passer rating of 95.1, but he was also sacked eight times during the game and hit 14 times in all.
Ryans said it was by this point time for the team to be at its best, and it just didn't happen.
"Postseason football, you got to be at your best. You got to be operating on all cylinders. And for us, we didn't do that today."
Running back Joe Mixon said there were a few key moments in Saturday night's game that just put a forward motion into the Chief's game.
Mixon carried the ball 18 times for 88 yards, scoring the Texans' one touchdown on a 13-yard gallop in the third quarter.
"That's what won them the game," Mixon said later. "They won the moment. We just came up short."