Houston Texans lose to Carolina Panthers 16-10, now 2-2 on season

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The Texans fell to 2-2 Sunday afternoon after losing to the Carolina Panthers 16-10 in what felt like a defensive battle.

Deshaun Watson was once again sacked multiple times, with it happening six times this week.

Watson also had a lackluster performance after showing out last week against the Chargers. He finished the day 21/33 for 160 yards with one rushing touchdown.

Carlos Hyde led the way on the ground, going for 58 yards on 12 rushes.

Brennan Scarlett strip-sacked Kyle Allen on the Panthers' opening drive of the game, and Bernardrick McKinney recovered the ball for the Texans.

The Panthers opened scoring in the game with a 48-yard field goal from Joey Slye.

Kenny Stills had a 14-yard reception on the final play of the first quarter. While it seemed he could've extended the play even more, he immediately went to the sideline as he started limping.

Ka'Imi Fairbairn missed a 53-yard field goal early in the second quarter. He was able to redeem himself with a 37-yard attempt midway through the quarter.

On that drive, Carlos Hyde had a 25-yard run, and Duke Johnson had a 40-yard run, finally giving some rhythm to the Texans offense.

Whitney Mercilus continued his strong play this season, forcing another strip-sack. Carlos Watkins recovered the ball for the Texans and put them in good field position.

A trick play was set up for DeAndre Hopkins to be QB for a play and find Carlos Hyde, but it resulted in a relatively easy interception for the Panthers with about 2:30 left in the second quarter.

Hopkins had another relatively quiet day, only having 41 yards on five catches,

The Panthers were able to rush down the field and capitalize on the interception with a three-yard touchdown run from Christian McCaffrey. That closed the first half with a 10-3 lead for Carolina.

McCraffrey had his way with the Texans defense Sunday afternoon, going for 93 yards on 27 rushes and 86 yards with 10 receptions.

The Texans had their way in terms of possession in the first half, but were unable to turn it into a touchdown.

JJ Watt made a big play early in the third quarter, getting Kyle Allen to fumble the ball for the third time. It was recovered deep in Panthers territory.

Four plays later, the Texans got their first touchdown of the day with a short touchdown run from Watson, tying the game at 10-10.

The third quarter didn't have much action, and the fourth quarter opened with a 55-yard field goal from Slye.

Texans fans became irate with the officiating at one point. When the referees missed what appeared to be an obvious facemask, the entire crowd at NRG showed their displeasure.

On that same drive when the Texans converted a third down, the officiating called a penalty and it resulted in the drive ending leaving fans even more irate.

Eric Reid of the Panthers was able to force a Watson fumble and recover the ball with about four minutes left in the fourth quarter. He was essentially untouched when rushing Watson.

When the Panthers had a third and six with a little over three minutes remaining, JJ Watt nearly had a sack on Allen before Allen was able to duck, escape and find a wide open Jarius Wright for the first down.

Slye was then able to connect on a 26-yard field goal to give the Panthers a 16-10 lead with 30 seconds remaining.

The Texans attempted a Hail Mary on the final play of the game, but the ball was batted down in the end zone by Reid.