LANDOVER, Md. — It wasn’t pretty, but the Houston Texans keep winning.
After beating the AFC East-leading Redskins 23-21 on Sunday, the Texans have won seven straight games and put themselves in position to seriously compete for a top-two seed — and first-round bye — in the playoffs. Houston now has a two-game lead in the AFC South after the Titans lost to the Colts on Sunday and the Texans are a position where their ambitions should be more than just a division title.
Houston became only the second team in NFL history to win seven straight games after an 0-3 start. According to Elias, the only team to do it in the past was the 1925 Giants.
There are still plenty of things Houston needs to fix to make a deep playoff run. Quarterback Deshaun Watson needs to get back to protecting the football after he threw two interceptions on Sunday. The Texans had won their last three games in part because they had not turned the ball over since Week 6 against the Buffalo Bills.
Earlier in the week, Texans coach Bill O’Brien reiterated the importance of winning the turnover battle, saying, that is “one of the most important stats” in a game. Against the Redskins, the Texans were minus-one and Watson’s second interception gave the Redskins the ball at the Houston 9-yard-line. Two plays later, Redskins backup quarterback Colt McCoy threw a touchdown pass to tight end Jordan Reed.
Watson completed 16 of 24 passes for for 208 yards with a touchdown and the two interceptions. Houston only scored one touchdown on offense, which came in the first quarter to wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins. Hopkins finished with five catches for 56 yards and the touchdown.
The defense was again a difference-maker, intercepting Redskins starting quarterback Alex Smith twice before he left the game on a cart with an ankle injury. As Washington threatened to erase an early deficit, Texans rookie safety Justin Reid intercepted Smith’s pass in the end zone and returned it 101 yards to extend the Texans’ lead to 17-7. That play changed the game late in the first half and was at least a 10-point swing.
There’s no doubt the Texans still have work to do, but as O’Brien has said all season, a win is a win. And the Texans now have seven of them with six games left in the season, with no games remaining against a team with a record above .500.