Brock wins battle of brutal QBs
Osweiler a winner in return to lineup as the Texans stifle Raiders’ third-string pivot
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 Saturday over the Oakland Raiders.
Benched on Dec. 18, Osweiler 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 top-ranked defence, led by Jadeveon Clowney and Whitney Mercilus, bounced back after an embarrassing 30-0 wild-card loss to Kansas City last season and will face either the Chiefs or New England in the divisional round.
“We’ve been doing it all season as a defence,” 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.
“It was his first start, on the road, in a playoff game, against the No. 1-ranked defence. It was a tough draw for him,” Raiders coach Jack Del Rio said. “We had hopes that we would be able to do enough around him so he wouldn’t have to do as much.”
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 in the regular season finale. 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.
“We missed Donald, he had a great year for us,” Del Rio said. “Losing a Pro Bowl tackle was a blow.”
Houston (10-7) led by 13 at halftime and made it 27-7 on a one-yard run by Osweiler early in the fourth quarter.
The Raiders (12-5) cut the lead when Andre Holmes grabbed an eight-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 post-season last season with Denver, and coach Bill O’Brien said he’ll start again next week. Osweiler finished with 168 yards passing.