The greatest offensive player in Houston Texans history is wide receiver Andre Johnson, and this week he was named a semifinalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
Though Ed Reed once wore a Texans jersey for a few games and is in the HOF, Johnson has the chance to become the first full-time Texans player to be selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, so that means he’s had some excellent performances when he was on the field.
Johnson played 12 seasons and 169 regular-season games with the Texans, and in that time totaled 13,597 yards with the franchise from 2003-14, while also collecting 1,012 receptions and 64 touchdowns.
All of those numbers and games played with the Texans means he had some excellent performances along the way. In his career, Johnson had 51 games of at least 100 yards receiving, with none of those 51 times being under 101 yards.
Let’s look at the five best receiving days of Andre Johnson as he takes the next step of possibly being selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, as he’s already the greatest wide receiver in Texans history and currently the only player to be named to the Texans’ Ring of Honor at NRG Stadium.
BREAKING: 7 first-year eligible players are among the list of 26 Modern-Era Player Semifinalists for the Class of 2022.
— Pro Football Hall of Fame (@ProFootballHOF) November 24, 2021
More on the semifinalists: https://t.co/C4z4QkeAF5#PFHOF22 pic.twitter.com/E9SnNGRGeX
No. 5: 193 yards on 11 receptions
Dec. 13, 2009 vs. Seattle Seahawks
This game by Johnson was one of his better games because he made 11 receptions for 193 yards and was targeted 15 times. He averaged 17.55 yards per reception in what was a 34-7 win by the Texans in Houston.
This game, Johnson also had two touchdown receptions and caught 73 percent of the passes that were in his direction. The win at the time put the Texans at 6-7 overall, and the quarterback on that day for Johnson was Matt Schaub.
Johnson’s two touchdown receptions in this game were for 64 yards in the first quarter and 17 yards in the second quarter. This game was just the second time in his career that Johnson caught for over 190 yards in a game (more on the first occasion later on).
In this game, Johnson showed how good of a player he can be and how he had the talent to be the best player on the roster, even without the best supporting cast.
No. 4: 196 yards on 9 receptions
Dec. 20, 2009 at Rams
This was another Houston Texans win when Andre Johnson has 190-plus yards receiving. In fact, the five times he achieved the feat the Texans won four times. When Johnson caught nine passes on 10 targets for196 yards against the then-St. Louis Rams on the road, what stands out the most is it was the following week after his 193-yard performance we just discussed.
In a two-week span, Johnson caught a total of 20 passes on 25 targets for 389 yards and two touchdowns. In this game against the Rams, the Texans won by a 16-13 score, but it was mostly from the leg of Kris Brown, who made three field goals and one extra point.
Johnson’s best catch in this game went for 49 yards, as that was his third reception of this game. Johnson’s first reception against the Rams went for 38 yards, and in the fourth quarter Johnson had back-to-back receptions of 30 yards and 44 yards. The rest of Johnson’s catches in this win went from one yard to 19 yards.
This game proves that, even though Johnson wasn’t able to reach the end zone, how important he was to the Houston offense in helping set up field position needed to help the special teams put points on the board, because the kicking of Brown on this day was where a majority of the scoring came from on this day.
No. 3: 207 yards on 11 receptions
Dec. 14, 2008 vs. Tennessee Titans
Again, this was a historic performance by Andre Johnson, as it was the first time in his career he caught for over 200 yards in a game, and it was a one-point win by the Texans over the Titans by a 13-12 score.
Johnson in this game finished with 11 receptions for 207 yards with one touchdown and a top reception of 65 yards. His touchdown reception for the Texans – the only Houston TD of the game – came on a 13-yard catch off a Matt Schaub pass in the second quarter.
Of his 11 receptions, eight were caught in the first half, and all but one of those eight receptions were at least 10 yards. In the first half, the Texans receiver Johnson had receptions of 15, 22, 14, 65, 13, 10, 11, and four yards. His second-half receptions went for seven, six, and 40 yards.
Johnson was a machine in this game, and since it was the first time he’d ever caught for 200 or more yards in an NFL game, it is a milestone memory for the wide receiver and Texans fans. This game is one of the many reasons why Johnson is a Pro Football Hall of Fame semifinalist in his first year of eligibility.
No. 2: 229 yards on 9 receptions
Nov. 3, 2013 vs. Indianapolis Colts
The runner-up for most receiving yards in a game comes in 2013 against an AFC South foe, the Indianapolis Colts, where Johnson added to his Hall of Fame credentials. Johnson against the Colts at home finished with nine receptions on 13 targets for 229 yards and a career-high three touchdowns.
Though this wasn’t the game where Johnson had his most receiving yards, it was possibly his greatest game because one-third of his receptions went for a touchdown. The Texans wide receiver averaged 25.44 yards per reception in this game, but this is the one game in his career where Johnson caught for over 190 yards and the Texans lost.
Houston lost this game by a 27-24 score, and at the time played the Texans were 2-6 overall, and the quarterback in this game for Johnson was Case Keenum. Johnson’s lowest-yardage catch was five yards, but it scored one of his three touchdowns, his final TD of the game.
Johnson’s best catch in this game was 62 yards, which was his first of the game, and it too went for a touchdown. The second touchdown reception of the game for Johnson was a 41-yard catch, his third catch of the game vs. the Colts.
Andre Johnson’s other catches were between 14 and 30 yards, including receptions of 16, 18, 18, 30, 25 and 14 yards.
It was a shame as talented as Johnson was in this game the Texas didn’t take advantage of it, but facing Andrew Luck on this day proved to be too much, though in his next-to-final season with the Texans, Johnson had one of his best performances.
No. 1: 273 yards on 14 receptions
Nov.18, 2012 vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
This is the game where the great Andre Johnson collected his most receiving yards in an outing, and he did so on a Texans team that was at home against an AFC South rival. The Texans won this game against the Jaguars by a 43-37 score, so this wasn’t a walk in the park for either side.
This win put the Texans at 9-1 overall, and the game went into overtime. As for Johnson in this game for the Texans, he totaled his career-high 273 yards on 14 receptions, and he was targeted 19 times.
The Texans wide receiver also had one touchdown in this game, a 48-yard game-winning touchdown catch in overtime from Matt Schaub. In this OT win, Johnson had receptions of 7, 22, 45, 23, 7, 13, 6, 20, 7, 14, 35, 11, and the aforementioned 48-yard touchdown that sent the Texans to their ninth win of the season.
There is no doubt that Andre Johnson deserves to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame when the final selections are made. His numbers speak for themselves. He made many quarterbacks look better than they were, and Johnson never had a Hall of Fame-caliber quarterback throwing him the football, but he turned his career into one that’s Hall of Fame-worthy.