Texans trip Jaguars in overtime thriller
LOS ANGELES - Agence France-Presse
Andre Johnson #80 of the Houston Texans takes a hit from Chris Prosinski #42 of the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first half at Reliant Stadium on November 18, 2012 in Houston, Texas. AFP photo
Andre Johnson scored the winning touchdown on a 48-yard screen pass as the Houston Texans edged the Jacksonville Jaguars 43-37 in overtime to post their fourth consecutive NFL victory Sunday.Houston kicker Shayne Graham booted a 25-yard field goal in the Texans' first overtime possession but the Jaguars' Josh Scobee answered with a 33-yard field goal kick of his own to keep the game going.
"Obviously, we struggled today," Houston coach Gary Kubiak said. "We gave up a lot of big plays defensively, we turned the ball over offensively, but we kept battling and we found a way to win the game another way." The Jaguars had an opportunity to win the game when Derek Cox intercepted quarterback Matt Schaub and returned the ball to the Texans' 47.
But Jacksonville was unable to get the ball into the end zone. With just over 2 1/2 minutes remaining in the overtime they decided to go for the win, opting not to punt on fourth-and-10.
Jacksonville quarterback Chad Henne's pass was incomplete, giving Houston the ball. Schaub ended it soon after with a pass to Johnson who raced down the sideline for the winning score with just over two minutes to play.
Johnson finished with 14 catches for 273 yards, while Schaub threw for a career-high 527 yards with five touchdowns.
Houston now takes a 9-1 record into their next game on the US Thanksgiving holiday Thursday in Detroit.
Henne was impressive for the Jaguars, who have lost seven in a row and blew a 14-point fourth quarter lead in this one.
He replaced injured quarterback Blaine Gabbert in the opening quarter and finished with 354 yards and four touchdowns.
New England quarterback Tom Brady threw two of his three touchdown passes to Rob Gronkowski as the New England Patriots routed the Indianapolis Colts 59-24.
Brady completed 24-of-35 passes for 331 yards, while Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen each ran for fourth-quarter scores in the one-sided victory. It marked the fourth straight win for the Patriots.
Colts' rising star Andrew Luck compiled 334 passing yards and threw two touchdowns to T.Y. Hilton.
But the Indianapolis rookie also tossed three interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns.
"(I'm) disappointed in myself for committing four turnovers on my part and two of those went for immediate touchdowns," said Luck. In the late game, Jacoby Jones returned a punt 63 yards for a touchdown, and the Baltimore Ravens defeated the Ben Roethlisberger-less Pittsburgh Steelers 13-10.
Joe Flacco had 164 yards on 20-of-32 passing for the Ravens, who have won 12 straight games against divisional opponents.
Quarterback Byron Leftwich replaced Roethlisberger but couldn't lead the Steelers to a fifth straight win. Roethlisberger was sidelined with rib and shoulder injuries.
In Detroit, Aaron Rodgers had two touchdown passes as the Green Bay Packers beat the Lions 24-20 in an NFC North contest.
Rodgers passed for 236 yards and an interception on 19-of-27 attempts with Randall Cobb and Jermichael Finley each catching touchdown passes.
"We just had to have this win," said Rodgers. "We knew it was a struggle and we didn't play our best on offense. But when we needed it, everyone came through and this is a big one." Robert Griffin threw for 200 yards and a career-high four touchdowns as the Washington Redskins beat struggling NFC East rivals Philadelphia 31-6.
Washington must now get ready on short rest for a Thanksgiving Day contest against division rivals Dallas.
In other games, Dallas beat Cleveland 23-20 in overtime, the New York Jets beat St. Louis 27-13, Cincinnati beat Kansas City 28-6, Atlanta beat Arizona 23-19, Tampa Bay beat Carolina 27-21 in overtime, New Orleans beat Oakland 38-17 and Denver beat San Diego 30-23.