It was grimy. It was ugly. It was also lucky.
As in Lucky No. 7.
The Texans won another close, hard-fought game, beating Washington 23-21 for a seventh consecutive victory after an 0-3 start.
It was the latest in a tough stretch of physical games. The Texans lost both starting guards early in the game and were down to only five offensive linemen. Redskins quarterback Alex Smith appeared to suffer a serious injury in the third quarter, and was replaced by veteran Colt McCoy, who led the Redskins to 14 points and a fourth-quarter lead.
For the second week in a row, an opponent missed a potential game winning field goal at the end of the fourth quarter. But this was a 63-yarder that fell well short.
On the surface, there were five reasons why the Texans could have lost the game:
The Texans once again struggled in the red zone, with one touchdown in three trips.
New acquisition Demaryius Thomas did not have a catch.
Deshaun Watson struggled throughout, throwing two interceptions and nearly throwing several others. Thanks to that, The Texans were minus-1 in the turnover battle. He constantly put his defense in bad situations.
The offensive line could not keep the Redskins off Watson, who was sacked three times and took several vicious hits.
As has been the case forever, they could not guard a tight end, as Jordan Reed had 7 catches for 71 yards and it could have been worse, as Vernon Davis dropped a pass on what would have been a huge gain.
But the good news is despite all that, they escaped with a road win against a team that is leading its division.
They did it because they got a red zone interception by Justin Reid that turned into a 101-yard touchdown return. It was a 14-point swing that made all the difference.
They did it thanks to fourth quarter sacks by J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney.
They did it thanks to two key third-down conversions on their final drive, one on a holding call on Josh Norman. It left the Redskins with too much to do and not enough time.
They did it because they were able to rush for 139 yards and average 4.5 per carry.
They won because they fought through their shaky play and did just enough, much as they did in Denver.
The end result is a 7-3 record and two-game lead in the AFC South heading into next Monday Night’s showdown with the Titans, who sit at 5-5 in a second place tie with the Colts, who continue to impress after their slow start.
Like a lot of their wins, no matter how it looked, the Texans took care of business. Good? At times. Lucky? Certainly. Ugly?
Yes, but it doesn’t matter. The Texans have won seven in a row, and are sitting pretty in the AFC South.
