HOUSTON -- Sunday's game against the Las Vegas Raiders felt eerily familiar to the Houston Texans.

Another fourth-quarter lead turned into a loss.

The Texans (1-4-1) were coming off the bye week in hopes that things would be different, but momentum began to shift once again as the Raiders were marching down the field as the third quarter came to a close looking to erase a 20-17 deficit.

Four plays later, Raiders running back Josh Jacobs sprinted up the middle and trucked through a couple of defensive backs into the end zone with 13:32 remaining.

The Raiders went on to win 38-20, as the Texans failed to score another point in the final quarter for the fourth time in six games this season.

There was a 17-point fourth-quarter lead against the Colts in a Week 1, 20-20 tie.

Poof.

And just like their matchup with the Raiders, there was a three-point lead in the fourth in their 16-9 Week 2 loss to the Broncos.

And, again, poof.

In Week 3, they fought back to get it to 20-20 right before the start of the fourth quarter against the Chicago Bears before falling 23-20.

The Texans have been outscored by 41 points in the fourth quarter this season, which only ranks behind the Baltimore Ravens, and it’s an issue that coach Lovie Smith can’t figure out.

“If we knew exactly what that was, we would have fixed it,” Smith said. "We're just gonna keep plugging away. You group them all together, it doesn’t look good. There has been one game in particular I can think of where we did finish. … If you've done it one time, you should be able to do it again. We'll keep working towards that.”

Through the first three quarters, the Texans have the ninth-best scoring margin (10) in the NFL. They’ve allowed only 13.17 points prior to the fourth quarter, tied for ninth fewest.

Blame rests on both sides of the ball.

Defensively, they're allowing 9.67 points and 113.8 yards, which both rank as the fourth most. They’ve struggled stopping teams through the air, as they’ve allowed 491 yards (10th most) with three touchdowns, and the rush defense has allowed 214 yards (12th most).

Offensively, they’re averaging 2.83 points in the fourth (second lowest) and producing 64.5 yards (third lowest).

Quarterback play has been a part of the issue as Davis Mills has a QBR of 11.2 in the fourth, second worst. Mills has thrown one touchdown in the quarter, tied for second fewest, and has thrown three interceptions, tied for the second most.

“It's tough. Obviously, you gotta see it realistically, but I’m a confident optimistic person,” Mills said. “If you can play them close for three, three and a half quarters, you can find a way to finish games, and we just haven't been able to do that yet.”

Even their promising rookie running back, Dameon Pierce, who’s sixth in the NFL in rushing, only has 55 yards on 21 carries in the fourth quarter.

So nothing is working, and the inability to finish games has been the difference between a winning record and sitting with the Detroit Lions as the only two teams with only one win.

Sunday will be the next opportunity to try to change the tone of the season when the Texans host the Tennessee Titans (4-2) at NRG Stadium (4:05 p.m. ET, CBS).