For the first 30 minutes on Sunday, the Houston Texans looked as if they would be able to steal a victory from the Cleveland Browns at their own home stadium.

Unfortunately for Houston, the game is a 60-minute contest, and the Texans allowed the game to get away from them in the second half as they lost to the Browns by a score of 31-21 to fall to 1-1 on the season.

“We didn’t play Texan football today,” said Texans head coach David Culley who suffered his first NFL regular season loss. “We just have to become more consistent and play the kind of football we know we have to play. We did not play complementary football today – offensively, defensively or special teams.”

Quarterback Tyrod Taylor commanded the Texans offense brilliantly in the first half only throwing one incompletion while throwing for 125 yards and one touchdown. He used his legs to give the Texans a 14-7 lead, but Taylor would not have time to celebrate properly as he seemed to have tweaked his hamstring crossing the goal line.

Taylor, who was playing against his former team in the Browns, stayed on the field, but was starting to show signs that something may be wrong. Towards the end of the half, he scrambled left to get away from pressure and threw an incomplete pass to David Johnson. On that play Taylor pulled up before he got to the sideline which alerted the Texans coaching staff that something was not right.

“It was actually right before halftime,” said coach Culley. “He thought he was okay, but once we got him in [locker room], we realized it was something.”

Coach Culley was informed by the medical staff that Taylor could not return to the game for the second half, which meant that rookie quarterback Davis Mills would see his first NFL regular season action.

The third-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft by the Texans looked shaky to begin with throwing for only 31 yards in the third quarter and one interception, but he would show some stability in the fourth quarter when he threw his first NFL touchdown to wide receiver Brandin Cooks.

“Obviously, I would have liked to start a little faster but, that comes with some experience,” Mills told reporters after the game. “As the backup quarterback or the guy that is next up, you always have to be ready for anything to happen. I can improve on some stuff. A lot to learn from, but overall, I didn’t think I was too rattled or wasn’t ready for the moment.”

What seemed to be rattled in the second half, was the Texans defense who were brutalized by Browns running backs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. The tandem combined for 60-yards in the fourth quarter, led by Chubb’s 20-yards per carry average and a touchdown.

“I felt good going into the fourth quarter,” Chubb said. “I think we did a good job the whole game of pounding them even though things were not quite opening up for us at first. We did a good job leaning on them, and our offensive line kept pressing their defenders. That is when it opened up for us in the fourth quarter.”

The Texans have no time to dwell on what happened on Sunday as they prepare for a nationally televised game against the Carolina Panthers.