DeMeco Ryans, Derek Stingley Jr. rave about 'complete football player' Kamari Lassiter

On the first play of the 4th quarter of Sunday night's game between the Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs, Patrick Mahomes dropped back to pass and looked to take a kill shot down the sideline. With the game knotted at 10 points apiece and neither team able to gain control of momentum, the two-time MVP uncorked a deep ball into the chilly Kansas City air, but thanks to some late pressure from Will Anderson Jr., Mahomes had to throw off his back foot, leading to an underthrow of Hollywood Brown and an interception by a Texan whose status going into this primetime showdown was uncertain.

Kamari Lassiter, who was a productive high school receiver in addition to being a four-star recruit at cornerback, perfectly blended those skills and made a play on the ball, undercutting Hollywood Brown and making a contested catch along the sideline that swung the momentum of the game in Houston's favor after the Texans had relinquished a 10-0 halftime lead.

“That’s Kamari, every play is 100 percent all the time,” Lassiter's teammate Derek Stingley Jr. said, per Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 Houston. “Doesn’t matter what’s going on, circumstances of the game or whatever, he’s gonna end up with the ball some way, somehow, or he’s gonna knock somebody out. He’s a complete football player.”

Although the Texans wouldn't immediately cash in, just two possessions later, Houston's offense punched one into the end zone half way through the 4th quarter on a 6-yard Dare Ogunbawale touchdown run. Either way, Lassiter gets credited with his third interception of the 2025 season

That 4th quarter sequence so perfectly captures the Houston Texans experience in 2025. CJ Stroud and the underwhelming Texans offense doing just enough, while a star-studded defense does everything else. At this point, watching the Texans must feel like watching a lengthy horror movie franchise that recycles the same beats in every new chapter of the franchise. You might know what's coming, but if you appreciate the experience for what it is, it remains very enjoyable.

“I can’t say enough about the effort from our defense,” DeMeco Ryans said after the game. “Kamari battling all week to come out to make a huge play getting the interception and getting the ball when it was up in the air.”

He wasn't the only Texan who went and got the ball when it was up in the air. Jalen Pitre and Azeez Al-Shaair got in on the festivities as well. But do you know what's really crazy? The standout of the game for the Texans defense may have actually been Tommy Togiai, a seldom-discussed 5th-year defenseive tackle who finished the game with 10 tackles, 1 sack, 1 tackle for loss and 2 hits on Patrick Mahomes.

But that's the nature of the Texans. Each and every week, someone is emerging from this defense looking like the biggest star on the team, only to be supplanted by someone else the very next week.

Not the worst problem to have.