The Houston Texans will be facing the Detroit Lions for the fifth time in history.
Going into Week 12, the Houston Texans are looking for their second straight win and fourth of the season, and they have a solid chance as they are facing the host Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving.
Houston is coming off their third win of the 2020 season as they defeated the New England Patriots, and with this upcoming game against the Detroit Lions being just the fifth time these two teams have faced each other, Houston leads the all-time series at 3-1.
The Texans lost the first time they ever faced the Lions back in 2004 by a 28-16 score, but since then the Texans have defeated the Lions by scores of 28-21 (2008), 34-31 in OT (2012) and 20-13 (2016). The last time the Texans faced the Lions Brock Osweiler was the starting quarterback of the team, where he was 20-of-29 for 186 yards with one touchdown and one interception on Oct. 30, 2016.
Back in 2012, the Texans and Lions played a classic on Thanksgiving, and back then it was Matt Schaub being the starting quarterback for the Texans, and the starting running back for the Texans was Arian Foster. Also on that team was Andre Johnson.
In the 2012 Thanksgiving game, Schaub was 29-of-48 for 315 yards with one touchdown and one interception, and on the ground it was Foster leading the way with 102 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries. Foster also had five receptions for 15 yards.
Houston’s leading receiver in that last Thanksgiving Day game for the Texans was Johnson, who had nine receptions on 15 targets for 188 yards, averaging 20.89 yards per reception.
Also a side fact in this 2012 Thanksgiving Day game was Matthew Stafford had 61 attempts, completing 31 passes with two touchdowns and zero interceptions.
Texans vs. Lions 2020: Looking forward to this year’s game
Maybe this is the game where for the first time this season, the Houston Texans gain back-to-back victories as they just defeated the Patriots on Sunday.
The Texans will need another excellent performance from Deshaun Watson as he is coming off a solid game, but maybe even more importantly the Texans will need a repeat performance from Roderick Johnson at left tackle, and the defense of the Texans will need another game like they had this past Sunday.
Dare we say this is a game that Houston Texans fans can look forward to this Thursday? Not only do the Texans have a realistic chance to win, but even the odds are on the side of the Texans with them being -2.5 favorites by The Action Network on Tuesday.
This is a game to watch for Houston Texans fans, and though the history of these two teams doesn’t include many games, when they’ve faced each other the final scores have been close and the games competitive.
Enjoy this Thanksgiving with the Houston Texans and Detroit Lions, as the Texans might just add to their all-time win total against the Lions, which would be exciting for the 2020 win total as well.