CJ Stroud and Houston Texans wrap up playoff berth with 23-19 win over Colts
Rookie quarterback CJ Stroud and the Houston Texans wrapped up a playoff spot with a 23-19 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday night, with Devin Singletary scoring the goahead touchdown on a three-yard run with 6:20 left.
The Texans (10-7) are going to the postseason for the first time since 2019. They won seven of their final 10 games and still could win the AFC South if Jacksonville loses at Tennessee on Sunday.
Indianapolis (9-8) were eliminated from the playoff chase with their third loss in five weeks. They haven’t made the postseason since 2020.
Stroud was 20 of 26 with 264 yards and two touchdowns. Nico Collins had nine catches for 195 yards and a score, and Singletary had 64 yards on 24 carries.
The Colts had a late fourth-and-1 play from the Houston 15. But a wideopen Tyler Goodson dropped Gardner Minshew’s pass, ending the Colts’ hopes.
The loss ruined Jonathan Taylor’s best game of the season. He rushed 30 times for 188 yards and a TD. Minshew was 13 of 24 for 141 yards.
It was an odd game that started with Stroud’s 75-yard TD pass to Collins on the Texans’ first play from scrimmage and included an extended third quarter and a do-over play in the second half.
But after Taylor’s 49-yard TD run and a nifty two-point conversion with Minshew faking a handoff before backing up and floating a pass to Mo AlieCox early in the third quarter, the game swung on Colts coach Shane Steichen gambling on Matt Gay’s 57-yard field goal that hit the right upright.
Houston quickly moved into scoring position and took a 17-14 lead on
Ka’imi Fairbairn’s 51-yarder with 3:29 to go in the third.
Indy tied it on Gay’s 35-yard field goal on the ensuing drive, but Stroud responded with a 12-play, 73-yard drive that took more than seven minutes off the clock and ended with Singletary’s three-yard TD run.
Steelers 17-10 Baltimore
Pittsburgh Ravens
Mason Rudolph threw a 71-yard touchdown pass to Diontae Johnson on the first play of the fourth quarter, and the Pittsburgh Steelers took a step toward the postseason with a 17-10 victory over the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday.
Rudolph led Pittsburgh (10-7) to three straight wins to close the season, and now the Steelers wait. They would make the playoffs Sunday if Buffalo loses to Miami, or Jacksonville loses to Tennessee. They also had a chance to clinch a berth if the Houston-Indianapolis game Saturday night ended in a tie.
There was some bad news for the Steelers. TJ Watt – who had two sacks to take sole possession of the NFL lead with 19 – left in the third quarter with a knee injury.
The Ravens (13-4) already had the top seed in the AFC locked up, and they held MVP favorite Lamar Jackson out of this game, along with a handful of other key players. Tyler Huntley started at quarterback, and both teams had a hard time moving the ball on a rainy, windy day.
With the score tied at 7, Rudolph found Johnson over the middle for the one big play Pittsburgh needed. After Baltimore’s Gus Edwards lost a fumble, the Steelers kicked a field goal with 3:13 remaining. The Ravens hadn’t trailed by more than seven points all season until then.
Justin Tucker kicked a field goal with 16 seconds left, but Baltimore couldn’t come up with the ensuing onside kick. The Ravens had a six-game winning streak snapped.
Rudolph was 18 of 20 for 152 yards. Each team lost two fumbles. Pittsburgh opened the scoring on a six-yard touchdown run by Najee Harris in the first quarter. The Ravens didn’t manage a first down until the second, but they eventually tied it on a 27-yard scoring pass from Huntley to Isaiah Likely.
The Steelers have won seven of the last eight meetings with Baltimore, all of which were decided by seven points or fewer. Pittsburgh’s four consecutive wins at M&T Bank Stadium are the most by a visiting team since the Steelers themselves won five straight from 1998 through 2002.