The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
THE SECOND SEASON
Texans march past Raiders as playoffs get under way
Houston Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins catches a touchdown pass against Raiders cornerback Sean Smith during the first half of their wild-card game Saturday in Houston. The Texans won 27-14.
HOUSTON >> Brock Osweiler finally looked like the player Houston spent $72 million on, throwing for a touchdown and running for another to lead the Texans to a 27-14 wild-card playoff win over the Oakland Raiders on Saturday.
Osweiler, benched on Dec. 18, got his job back this week with Tom Savage out with a concussion, and played his best game of the season to give the Texans their first playoff victory since the 2012 season.
Houston and its topranked defense, led by Jadeveon Clowney and Whitney Mercilus, bounced back after an embarrassing 30-0 wild-card loss to Kansas City last season to advance to face either the Chiefs or New England in the divisional round next weekend.
“We’ve been doing it all season as a defense,” Clowney said. “We’ll just continue to play as a unit.”
The Raiders’ first trip to the playoffs since the 2002 season, when they went to the Super Bowl, ended with a thud behind the struggles of third-string rookie Connor Cook. He threw for 161 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.
He became the first quarterback in NFL history to make his first start in a playoff game after MVP contender Derek Carr broke his leg two weeks ago, and Matt McGloin injured his shoulder on Sunday. His performance wasn’t helped by star left tackle Donald Penn missing the game with a knee injury, which ended a streak of 160 straight starts.
Houston (10-7) led by 13 at halftime and made it 27-7 on a 1-yard run by Osweiler early in the fourth quarter.
The Raiders (12-5) cut the lead when Andre Holmes grabbed an 8-yard touchdown reception on their next possession. Oakland got a stop after that, but Corey Moore intercepted Cook on the next possession.
DeAndre Hopkins had a touchdown reception for the Texans and Lamar Miller gave Houston a 10-0 lead in the first quarter on a TD run one play after Clowney’s first career interception.
“Get to the quarterback,” Clowney said of his team’s mission Saturday. “I know he’s going to hold it, don’t know where to go with it. That’s what we’re hoping, trying to make plays on it.”
It was the first career playoff game for Osweiler, who was benched for Peyton Manning before the postseason last season with Denver. He finished with 168 yards passing.
Houston took a 3-0 lead with a 50-yard field goal by Nick Novak with about eight minutes left in the first quarter.
Clowney batted a pass by Cook with one hand, then tipped it with his other one before pulling it down for the interception later in the quarter. The top overall pick in the 2014 draft probably would have scored on the play, but in the time it took him to grab the ball, Raiders running back Latavius Murray had latched on to one of his ankles and was pulling him down. Miller scampered untouched on the next play for a 4-yard touchdown to make it 10-7.
The Raiders got a 2-yard TD run by Murray late in the first quarter.
Houston added a field goal in the second quarter before making it 20-7 on a 2-yard reception by Hopkins. That score was set up when Osweiler delivered a 38-yard pass to Hopkins just before the receiver stepped out of bounds two plays earlier.