The Houston Texans broke out of their funk midway through Saturday’s NFL wild-card playoff game, and all it took was a broken play to spark a 99-yard touchdown drive.
Down 6-0 in the second quarter against the Los Angeles Chargers, the Texans took over with the ball on their own 1-yard line after their first five drives yielded just 54 yards. But C.J. Stroud saved the team from further calamity after a fumbled shotgun snap, as the second-year quarterback recovered the ball and found wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson on the move for a 34-yard gain.
That 13-play series was capped by Stroud finding Nico Collins for a 13-yard touchdown, which would ignite a stretch of 23 unanswered points for the Texans in their 32-12 win over the Chargers.
Houston’s defense also keyed in on Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert with four interceptions. A 38-yard pick-six by Texans safety Eric Murray in the final minute of the third quarter put Los Angeles in a hole from which it would not emerge.
The Chargers cut into the lead in the fourth quarter with Ladd McConkey’s 86-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown. But Cameron Dicker’s ensuing extra-point attempt was blocked and then returned by D’Angelo Ross for two points, keeping it a two-possession game.
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The Texans sapped the clock on the ensuing drive, which was punctuated by a 17-yard Joe Mixon touchdown run to put the game out of reach. Herbert was then picked off a fourth time, surpassing his total from the entire regular season.
The outcome served as a crash-landing for Jim Harbaugh in his first season with the Chargers, who were searching for their first postseason win since the 2018 season.
The Texans will face either the Kansas City Chiefs or the Baltimore Ravens, pending the outcome of Saturday’s final AFC wild-card game between the Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos.