The Houston Texans have achieved one of the rarest feats in NFL history en route to a 32-12 playoff thumping of the Los Angeles Chargers.
Chargers QB Justin Herbert, who enjoyed a career-best season, had a game to forget, throwing four interceptions.
First Round Playoffs
Remarkably, the four picks are more than what Herbert threw in the entire regular season.
The Texans trailed 6-0 early, but scored 23 unanswered points to take a handy lead into the fourth quarter.
The Chargers made things interesting when Herbert connected with wide receiver Ladd McConkey for an 86-yard touchdown pass.
But it was on the ensuing extra point where the madness occurred.
The Chargers lined up to kick the extra point, but it was blocked by a Texans player and went straight up into the air.
Chargers kicker Cam Dicker batted it forward but was then levelled by a Texans defender. As that happened, Texans special teamer D’Angelo Ross picked up the football and ran it all the way to the other end zone.
By rule, that results in two points for the defensive team, meaning the Texans added two points on a play that should have been an easy point for the Chargers.
It’s the first defensive two-point conversion in NFL playoff history since the rule was implemented in 2015.
Instead of trailing 23-13, that play gave the Texans a 25-12 lead. They would score another touchdown late to ice the result.
Texans QB C.J Stroud was enormous for the home side, throwing for 282 yards and a touchdown. Wide receiver Nico Collins had a touchdown and 122 receiving yards.
The Texans will face the back-to-back Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs next week if either one or both of the heavily favoured Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills win their Week 1 playoff fixtures.
Herbert throws 4 INT’s in playoff exit | 01:34
RAVENS’ SUPERSTAR DUO FIRE IN WIN
If the Baltimore Ravens are going to capture their first Super Bowl since 2012, Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry will likely have everything to do with it.
Glimmers of the Lombardi Trophy are still far down the road, but the offensive duo, at least through the wild-card round, has more than held up their end of the bargain.
The Ravens bested the Pittsburgh Steelers 28-14 in their AFC wild-card battle on Saturday night in Baltimore on the back of their two heaviest hitters — Jackson and Henry — who combined for 267 rushing yards and four touchdowns.
Jackson and Henry set the tone early for the Ravens with dominant first-half performances.
Jackson was 13-of-15 on completions with 144 passing yards in the first half as the Ravens took to the locker room with a 21-0 lead.
Baltimore reached the end zone on their first drive of the game — a methodical 13 play, 95-yard undertaking capped by a 15-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Rashod Bateman.
The biggest play of the drive came several snaps earlier when Henry took a direct snap and busted his way to the Steelers’ 12-yard-line, a gain of 34.
Ravens sink Steelers to progress | 00:50
The Ravens’ second drive of the game was something of an outlier — lasting just six plays.
But Baltimore wouldn’t be held down for long — bouncing back on a third and fourth drive that looked largely similar to the first.
Henry accounted for the Ravens’ second touchdown — an 8-yard run at the end of a 13 play, 85-yard drive — and Jackson hooked up with running back Justice Hill on the third score of the evening.
That latter scoring drive — nine plays, 90 yards — took only 1:51.
Baltimore has dominated on both sides of the ball, with Mike Tomlin and the Steelers mustering together just 59 total yards in the half compared to the Ravens’ 308.
The second half offered more of the same. And while the Steelers were able to add two scores of their own, the Ravens’ offense couldn’t be contained.
Baltimore finished the contest with 464 total yards and 29 first downs.
This article first appeared on The New York Post and was reproduced with permission.
