After every loss in the NFL, numerous coaching decisions are called into question. For the second straight week, fans will question DeMeco Ryans’ use of timeouts late in another defeat, but Derek Stingley Jr., part of a Houston Texans secondary that got torched in a 34-30 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday at Reliant Stadium, says the blame lies entirely with the players on the field and nobody on the sidelines.

“It sucks, because we know we’re the ones out there on the field,” the All-Pro cornerback said. “The coaches put us in the right position to win and we’ve got to do it. They can’t do it, we’ve got to do it. We’ve got great coaches, we’ve got great everybody. We’ve got to go out there and do our job.”

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The secondary didn’t do its job, because it allowed CeeDee Lamb, playing in his first game back home since starring at Foster High School in Richmond, to make a career-high 17 catches for 189 yards and the game-winning touchdown with 40 seconds remaining. The Cowboys made it no secret they would be going to Lamb in their final drive, with the All-Pro accounting for five of Dallas’ final eight completions after the Texans took a 30-27 lead with 2:23 left to play. Still, the Texans had no answer, especially on Lamb’s final catch, when he ran a simple route, beating Texans nickel cornerback Jalen Pitre with what looked like simple route over the middle for a relatively easy 12-yard throw from Dak Prescott.

In a somber locker room following a fourth straight loss, Texans players didn’t get into specific plays, but Will Anderson Jr., who finished with a ½ sack and five hits on Prescott, said the breakdowns were on every defensive player.

“We’ve got to do a better job of everybody having each other’s back,” he said. “We play (man-to-man coverage) and we can’t have him out there like that. We’ve got to have his back. Look at the the D line, we’ve got to keep rushing, keep trying to get home through all the (chip blocks) and everything like that.”

Ryans repeatedly said he needed to study film Sunday night to figure out exactly where some of his coverages got blown, but said, “There is no coverage where we design to leave guys open. That’s not a coverage.”

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No matter the defensive playcall, Prescott said he knew that final play to Lamb would result in a touchdown ever since he saw it get installed during the week, especially after what he saw on an incompletion a play earlier.

“Watching the film with the coaches, hearing them put it in, seeing exactly how their defense plays. I knew it would be a touchdown and credit to Schotty (head coach Brian Schottenheimer) for calling it at the perfect time,” the quarterback said. “As soon as it was called, I knew it was a touchdown. The play before I thought it could have been. They did a good job of holding their zero disguise and firing that. Just had to throw the ball away, but that second down, I saw the presentation they were giving us and CeeDee did a great job of holding that window open and allowing me to make a throw.”