It’s funny, after eight straight weeks where the Houston Texans experienced games, wins and losses, that went down to the final 30 seconds, there were many of us that went into Sunday’s game against the Jets saying “Man, can we please just have a double digit win for a change, and not sweat things out down the stretch?”
Well, the football gods gave us just that, but they have quite the sense of humor. Maybe we should have specified that we meant we wanted a TEXANS win. Instead, the Jets waylaid the Texans by a final score of 30-6. So that game looked nothing like the previous two months, which I summarized in a tweet last week:
So, as we wash the bad taste of the loss to the Jets out of our mouths, and pray that C.J. Stroud’s concussion is not severe, let’s relive the good times, and rank the five last second wins during that heart pounding eight game stretch. here we go:
5. WEEK 6 – Texans 20, Saints 13 (BOX)
Game ending play — Steven Nelson INT on 4th-10 at HOU 24, 0:16 left in Q4
This was the first of the five wins, so we really didn’t know what kind of ride we were on at this point. I do know that it was incredibly gratifying sending a bunch of Saints fans back to Louisiana with a loss. The reason this one is at the bottom of these five is that there was never a feeling, for me at least, that Derek Carr was going to beat the Texans. Carr is a losing player.
4. WEEK 11 – Texans 21, Cardinals 16 (BOX)
Game ending play — Steven Nelson INT on 4th-10 at HOU 24, 0:16 left in Q4
Here is Steven Nelson showing up again! This time it was a pass breakup on a deep shot by Kyler Murray on 4th and 8. The best thing about this play was Will Anderson providing the pressure on the final play, because of course, it was the Cardinals with whom the Texans traded up to acquire the pick used to select Anderson on draft night.
3. WEEK 10 – Texans 30, Bengals 27 (BOX)
Game ending play — Matt Ammendola 38 yd FG at CIN 20, 0:00 left in Q4
The Texans had already beaten a couple good teams this season before heading to Cincinnati in Week 10, specifically Jacksonville in Week 3 and Pittsburgh in Week 4. However, this was the first big road win for this team, and it was a last second field goal from a kicker they’d picked up off the street that week. This was a statement game for the Texans, who were the better team throughout most of the afternoon that day.
2. WEEK 13 – Texans 22, Broncos 17 (BOX)
Game ending play — Jimmie Ward INT on 3rd-8 at HOU 8, 0:09 left in Q4
The fact that it was Russell Wilson failing on the other side of this Texans victory means that, worst case, it was going to be second place out of these five games. I hate Russell Wilson. In this ending, Jimmie Ward was the hero we all deserve, picking off Wilson in the end zone to close out the game. It was the third of three Wilson interceptions in the final quarter and a half.
1. WEEK 9 – Texans 39, Buccaneers 37 (BOX)
Game ending play — CJ Stroud TD pass to Tank Dell on 1st-10 at TB 15, 0:06 left in Q4
This was an easy choice for the top spot for me. Even though the game was against an NFC opponent, and thus, empirically less important for things like playoff tiebreakers and such, this was the game that REALLY put C.J. Stroud on the map and in the MVP conversation. Also, the Texans were 3-4 coming into this game, and coming off a loss to the woeful Carolina Panthers the week before. You could argue that this drive saved the season.
Listen to Sean Pendergast on SportsRadio 610 from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays. Also, follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/SeanTPendergast, on Instagram at instagram.com/sean.pendergast, and like him on Facebook at facebook.com/SeanTPendergast.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
