The Houston Texans should have been able to secure their seventh win of the season but missed opportunites and stalled drives led to a loss to the New York Jets. They allowed the Jets to improve to 3-6, while falling to 6-3. The 21-13 win for New York also ended a five-game losing streak.
It was another slow start for Houston as their offense was visibly missing a couple of star players. They were already without Nico Collins and lost Stefon Diggs to a torn ACL in Week 8. That left them thin at wide receiver, and in need of a big game from Tank Dell.
Dell stepped up with several big plays, heading into the half with 70 yards on four receptions and finishing with 126 on six catches. As good as he was, it was Joe Mixon who kept the offense moving. He had 91 yards in the first half alone, scoring the lone touchdown of the first 30 minutes. That score was from three yards out and capped off a 14-play, 98-yard drive.
Mixon in for SIX.#HOUvsNYJ on Prime Video
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Houston had a 7-0 lead at the intermission, which was fortunate. A couple of drives before the Mixon touchdown, the Jets appeared to take a 7-0 lead when Malachai Corley went into the end zone of an 18-yard run. On replay, it was clear that Corley let go of the ball before crossing the goal line.
The ball went out of bounds, which was a touchback.
What we thought was a Jets TD... is a touchback! Houston ball 😳#HOUvsNYJ on Prime Video
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New York made it a 7-7 tie early in the third quarter when Aaron Rodgers hit Garrett Wilson for a 21-yard touchdown pass. Houston answered with a 54-yard field goal from Ka'imi Fairbairn, which made up for his miss from 56 near the end of the first half.
Unfortunately, their lead didn't last long. New York scored on a beautiful one-handed touchdown grab from Garrett Wilson to take a 14-10 lead. Houston responded with a 12-play drive, which was extended by a pernalty after Fairbairn made a 43-yard field goal. Their drive stalled again, this time ending with the kicker hitting the upright from 27 yards out.
That's when the Jets broke it open as Rodgers hit Davante Adams for a 37-yard touchdown. That made it a 21-10 game in favor of the home team. A late field goal ended a desperation drive but the Texans couldn't recover the onside kick and will head home trying to figure out how to get their offense back on track.
Up Next for Texans
Houston has two more prime-time games on the schedule over the next two weeks. They will host the Detroit Lions on Sunday Night Football in Week 10. They head to Dallas the following week to play the Cowboys on Monday Night Foootball.