The Houston Texans achieved an incomprehensible one-year turnaround this season and are marching towards a blindingly bright future led by first-year head coach DeMeco Ryans, rookie quarterback CJ Stroud and rookie defensive end Will Anderson Jr. That abundance of optimism, however, is not going to do much to alleviate the immediate disappointment that comes with being blown out in a playoff game.

Houston stood toe-to-toe with the No. 1 seed Baltimore Ravens for a full of half, thanks to an exhilarating Steven Sims punt return touchdown, but the team was completely dominated in the final two quarters. While a ferocious Ravens defense, evasive Lamar Jackson and ineffective running game all contributed to the 34-10 outcome, discipline was the Texans' most inexcusable shortcoming.

“The penalties really hurt us,”Ryans said after Saturday's AFC Divisional Round defeat, per Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston. “It had nothing to do with the crowd. That's on us. Message to our guys was it will be about execution. We weren't disciplined presnap.”

A road game in a hostile environment against the team with the best record in the NFL was always going to be a grueling test for this young squad, so self-inflicted wounds are simply unacceptable. The offense could not sustain any momentum, with Stroud being held to 175 yards on 5.3 yards per pass and running back Devin Singletary getting bottled up for 22 yards on 2.4 yards per carry.

Adding penalties into the mix versus the top scoring defense in the league is like throwing gasoline to the fire, one that was utterly uncontrollable in the second half. DeMeco Ryans and the Texans will learn from this humbling experience, though.

Judging by the tenacity they showed all yearlong, expect this lopsided effort to be burned in their memories during the long offseason. Until the time comes to obtain redemption.