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Houston Texans Pull Off 16-Point Comeback, Advance to AFC Divisional Round

The Houston Texans pulled off a miraculous comeback victory over the Buffalo Bills to advance to the AFC Divsional Round of the 2019 NFL Playoffs.
Texans Comeback

The Houston Texans pulled off a thrilling comeback against the Buffalo Bills to advance to the AFC Divisional Round. Deshaun Watson pulled a few miracles out of nowhere and DeAndre Hopkins got the better of Tre’Davious White down the stretch. Josh Allen and company eventually sent the game to overtime, but the Texans managed to survive this instant classic. The Texans will face either the Kansas City Chiefs or the Baltimore Ravens, depending on the outcome of Sunday night’s matchup against the New England Patriots and Tennessee Titans.

Houston Texans Complete 16-Point Comeback Against Buffalo Bills, Advance to AFC Divisional Round

This one was all Buffalo in the early going. The Bills started the game with the ball and easily moved the ball downfield. Quarterback Josh Allen got Buffalo into scoring position with a 42-yard run before John Brown found Allen for a 16-yard touchdown. Houston couldn’t answer and, after exchanging punts, the Bills managed to take a 10-0 lead on a Stephen Hauschka field goal. The Bills managed to add on another field goal to take a 13-0 lead into the half.

Controversy ensued on the second-half kickoff. Houston returner DeAndre Carter fielded the kickoff in the endzone and tossed the ball to the referee instead of taking a knee. Buffalo landed on the live ball and initially had a touchdown. However, after a short discussion, the referees decided that Carter had given himself up and awarded the ball to the Texans.

Despite the controversial play, Buffalo continued to control the game. Following a third-quarter DeAndre Hopkins fumble, the Bills had a chance to score a touchdown and put the game out of reach. However, J.J. Watt recorded a key third-down sack, forcing Buffalo to settle for the field goal.

Houston Texans Comeback

Houston’s offense finally showed some life on the ensuing drive. After getting locked down for most of the day, DeAndre Hopkins finally started to find some success against Tre’Davious White. Watson capped off the drive with a 20-yard touchdown scramble and used his legs again to pick up the ensuing two-point conversion.

The Texans weren’t done there, as Whitney Mercilus forced a Josh Allen fumble to set up a short field for Houston. The Texans had to settle for a field goal but drew within five with just under 11 minutes left in the game. Following yet another defensive stop, Watson had a chance to lead his first-ever postseason game-winning drive. The third-year quarterback answered the call, leading an eight-play, 74-yard drive culminating in a three-yard touchdown pass to Carlos Hyde. Just like that, Houston put up 19 unanswered points to take a late lead.

Buffalo’s Response

Buffalo wouldn’t go quietly into the night, as Josh Allen had a chance to lead one last scoring drive. Buffalo moved it all the way down to the Houston 25. However, on 3rd and 13, Allen took an intentional grounding penalty to push Buffalo all the way back to the Houston 42. Rather than attempt an impossible field goal, the Bills decided to throw for it on 4th and 23. Josh Allen took yet another sack and Houston took over with 1:35 to go.

Buffalo still had all three timeouts and could still get the ball back if they could prevent a Houston first down. They managed to do just that, and Allen had one more chance to win the game with just over a minute left. Allen drove his team all the way to the 20 before Hauschka came on for the game-tying field goal with 10 seconds left. Hauschka was up to the task, drilling the 47-yard attempt to tie the game at 19.

Overtime

Houston won the toss and got the ball to start overtime. However, the Texans couldn’t get anything going and ultimately had to punt after three plays. Allen and company couldn’t get the job done either and gave the ball back to Houston. Watson made sure Buffalo wouldn’t get the ball back, driving all the way down the field to set up the game-winning field goal. The play of the drive came when Watson somehow avoided two free blitzers and found Tiawan Jones for a 34-yard gain to bring the Texans down to the 10.

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David Latham, Managing Editor

David Latham, Managing Editor

David joined LWOS as an NFL writer in 2017. A passionate fan of Boston sports, Latham covers the Patriots, fantasy football, and breaking news across the league.

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