Santonio Holmes caught a 6-yard touchdown pass from Mark Sanchez with 10 seconds to play, giving the host New York Jets a stunning 30-27 victory over the Houston Texans on Sunday.
It was the third consecutive dramatic win – two in overtime - for the Jets and fifth in their last six games. Houston, now 0-5 all-time against New York, has now lost four straight.
The Texans (4-6) rallied from a 23-7 fourth-quarter deficit to take a 24-23 lead on Arian Foster's 1-yard run with 2:18 to play. The Texans then turned an interception into a 22-yard field goal by Neil Rackers with 55 seconds remaining to extend their advantage to 27-23.
The Jets (8-2) promptly marched 72 yards in 45 seconds, highlighted by a 42-yard pass from Sanchez to Braylon Edwards to the Houston 6-yard line with 16 seconds left. Sanchez then connected with Holmes (seven catches, 126 yards) in the left corner of the end zone on the next play.
Sanchez completed 22 of 38 passes for 315 yards and three touchdowns against the NFL's lowest-rated pass defense, including two scores to Holmes.
Houston quarterback Matt Schaub finished 19 of 33 for 254 yards and a touchdown.
Houston took a 7-3 lead on Foster's 2-yard TD run with 10:17 left in the second quarter, but New York responded with 20 unanswered points to take a 16-point lead. A 30-yard field goal by Nick Folk, his third of the game, extended the Jets' advantage to 23-7 nine seconds into the fourth quarter.
After Rackers connected from 38 yards, Houston converted a fumble by New York running back Shonn Greene into a 43-yard TD pass from Schaub to Joel Dreessen (four catches, 106 yards) to cut the deficit to 23-17 with 9:14 remaining.
The Jets' next possession stalled at their own 25 and the Texans went 73 yards in 3:51 to regain the lead on the 1-yard TD run by Foster, who finished with 84 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries.
Houston | N.Y. Jets | |
Arian Foster | Player | Shonn Greene |
22 | Attempts | 15 |
84 | Yards | 42 |
3.8 | Avg Yards | 2.8 |
2 | Touchdowns | 0 |
19 | Long | 12 |
Houston | N.Y. Jets | |
Joel Dreessen | Player | Santonio Holmes |
4 | Receptions | 7 |
106 | Yards | 126 |
26.5 | Avg Yards | 18.0 |
1 | Touchdowns | 2 |
43 | Long | 41 |
Yards | Scoring | Defense | ||||||
Team | Tot | Rus | Pas | TD | FG | INT | Sck | FF |
Houston | 343 | 97 | 246 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3.0 | 1 |
N.Y. Jets | 401 | 103 | 298 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1.0 | 2 |