NFL Old School Game of the Week: Texans Tame Lions in Thanksgiving Thriller

 

The Texans celebrate after Shayne Graham kicked the game-winning field goal in their 2012 win over the Detroit Lions.

The Houston Texans got to make their first ever appearance on Thanksgiving Day in 2012 when they traveled up north to take on the Detroit Lions in the Lions' annual Thanksgiving game.

The Texans came into the game with a 9-1 record just one win away from tying their franchise record of 10 wins which Houston had accomplished the prior season when the Texans made it to the playoffs for the first time since their inception in 2002.

The Texans featured one of the NFL's most explosive offenses which was led by quarterback Matt Schaub, running back Arian Foster and wide receiver Andre Johnson while the defense was led by defensive end J.J. Watt who was on his way to a 20-sack season as Houston was hoping to secure the top seed in the AFC playoffs.

While the Texans were riding high, the Lions were struggling as they entered their annual Thanksgiving game with a 4-6 record, already matching their loss total from the previous season where they went 10-6 to earn a playoff spot for the first time in 12 years.

Detroit was led by quarterback Matthew Stafford and his favorite target, wide receiver Calvin Johnson, who had caught 65 passes for 1,117 yards up to this point in the season as the Lions were hoping to win on Thanksgiving for the first time since 2003.

 The Lions got the ball to start the game as Stafford would overcome a sack by Watt on the first play of the game to complete four of eight passes for 67 yards on a 12-play, 80-yard drive that ended with a two-yard touchdown run by Mikel Leshoure to put Detroit ahead 7-0.

The rest of the first quarter would be a punting contest as both teams trading punts with the only significant play of the first quarter was whether Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh intentionally kicked Schaub in the crotch.

The Texans would start a drive early in the second quarter at their 26-yard-line as Schaub would hit Johnson for 37 yards to put Houston in Detroit territory at the Lions 37-yard-line as six plays later, Foster would punch it in from six yards out that with the extra point tied the game at seven with 10:57 left in the second quarter.

The Lions would respond with a 10-play, 83-yard drive as Stafford completed five of eight passes for 79 yards on the drive which culminated with a five-yard touchdown pass from Stafford to Mike Thomas to give Detroit a 14-7 lead with six minutes to go in the second quarter.

Houston would get the ball back at their 25-yard-line as Schaub would complete five of six passes for 78 yards on the drive which included a 43-yard pass to Johnson as Schaub would find tight end Owen Daniels for a nine-yard touchdown to help tie the game at 14 with 2:11 left before halftime.

It would only take the Lions 22 seconds to get back into the end zone as Stefan Logan would return the ensuing kickoff 38 yards to the Detroit 41-yard-line as Stafford would complete a 37-yard pass to Ryan Broyles which was followed by a 22-yard touchdown pass to Johnson to give the Lions a 21-14 led with 1:49 left in the first half.

The Texans would try to mount one more drive before the end of the first half but a sack by Lions defensive end Cliff Avril would end the first half with the Lions ahead 21-14 as Houston would get the ball to start the second half.

The Lions would force a three-and-out to get their offense the ball back at their 22-yard-line as Detroit would hold the ball for six-and-a-half minutes as they would drive 45 yards in 11 plays to set up a 46-yard field goal by Jason Hanson which extended the Lions' lead to 24-14 with a little over seven minutes left in the third quarter.

The Texans would start their next possession at their 19-yard-line as Schaub would throw an incomplete pass on 1st down to set up 2nd & 10 when the most controversial play of the game occurred.

Schaub would hand the ball off to Justin Forsett who would run for seven yards until he was hit by Lions free safety Louis Demas, causing the Houston running back to have his left arm and knee to hit the ground.

Forsett would get up and run in untouched into the end zone as referees never blew the whistle and signaled touchdown as replays clearly showed Forsett was down by contact.

Because it was a scoring play, the instant replay booth would automatically review only to have Schwartz thrown the challenge flag to draw an unsportsmanlike penalty but even worse, nullify the review which meant the 81-yard touchdown would stand as Shayne Graham would make the extra point to cut the Lions' lead to 24-21.

The Texans would force a Detroit punt to get the ball back at their 33-yard-line as three straight running plays gained 34 yards to put Houston at the Detroit 33-yard-line as the drive would stall as the Texans would settle for a 45-yard field goal by Graham which tied the game at 24 with 2:36 left in the third quarter.

The Lions would start their next drive at their 20-yard-line as Joique Bell would account for the bulk of the yardage on the drive as he ran for 26 yards on the final play of the third quarter then would run it in for a 23-yard touchdown to give Detroit a 31-24 lead with 13:31 remaining in the third quarter.

The two teams would trade punts for the next six minutes of the game until the Texans were pinned back in front of their end zone as they got the ball at their three-yard-line.

After throwing an incomplete pass to start the drive, Schaub would complete a two-yard pass to Foster which was followed by a 13-yard pass to Johnson to give the Texans a 1st down at their 18-yard-line.

Foster would run for 15 yards on the next play to give Houston another 1st down as Schaub would hit Johnson for 23 yards to put the Texans at the Lions' 44-yard-line as Schaub would throw an incomplete pass before hitting Foster on two straight plays picking up only three yards to set up 4th & 7.

Despite having a little over four minutes left in regulation, Kubiak would gamble and go for the 1st down which he got as Schaub found Johnson for 16 yards to give the Texans a 1st down at the Lions' 25-yard-line.

Two incomplete passes later, Schaub would hit Johnson again, this time for 12 yards which was followed by a 11-yard pass to tight end Garrett Graham to set up 1st & goal at the Lions' two-yard-line.

Foster would run for one yard as the two-minute warning hit to set up 2nd & goal when Foster got the ball again as he would punch it in for the one-yard touchdown to cap off the 15-play, 97-yard touchdown drive that with Graham's extra point tied the game at 31 with 1:55 to go in regulation.

The Lions would get the ball back at their 24-yard-line as Stafford completed passes of 18 yards to Johnson and 13 yards to tight end Tony Scheffler to put Detroit at the Houston 45-yard-line as Stafford would throw three straight incomplete passes to force a Detroit punt to give the Texans the ball at their two-yard-line with 39 seconds left in regulation.

Schaub would take a knee to run out the clock as the game would move into overtime with the score tied at 31 as the Lions would win the overtime coin toss to get the ball to start overtime.

Stafford would complete a 40-yard pass to Broyles on the first play of overtime to put the Lions at the Texans' 40-yard-line seemingly to put Detroit close to field goal range only for the Lions to turn it over two plays later when tight end Brandon Pettigrew fumbled the football after a hit by strong safety Danael Manning which was recovered by linebacker Daryl Sharpton to give the Texans the ball at their 35-yard-line.

A 14-yard pass from Schaub to Johnson plus five runs by Foster for 25 yards help put the Texans in field goal range as Graham would come onto attempt a 51-yard field goal that would give Houston the win.

However, Graham's kick would sail wide left to keep the game going as the Lions would take over at their 41-yard-line with 9:38 left in the extra period.

The Lions would pick up one 1st down before punting the ball back to the Texans who would take over at their nine-yard-line as Houston would drive to their 29-yard-line until Schaub was intercepted by cornerback Chris Houston to give Detroit the ball at the Houston 41-yard-line.

A 14-yard pass from Stafford to Scheffler would help set up a 47-yard field goal attempt by Hanson which would bounce off the left upright to give the Texans the ball back at their 37-yard-line with 4:32 left in overtime.

From there, Schaub would complete passes of 15 and 11 yards to tight end James Casey with a 23-yard pass to Johnson sandwiched in between the two catches by Casey to help the Texans at the Lions' 14-yard-line as Graham would come on to attempt a 32-yard field goal.

The third time would be the charm for a game-winning field goal as Schaub's kick sailed through the uprights with 2:25 to go in overtime to give Houston a 34-31 win.

The Lions would never recover from the Thanksgiving loss as they would lose their remaining five games of the season to end the season on an eight-game losing streak to finish the season with a 4-12 record with the lone highlight being Johnson breaking Jerry Rice's record for most receiving yards in a season as Megatron would finish the season with 1,964 yards on 122 receptions.

As for the Texans, they would finish the regular season with a 12-4 record to win the AFC South for the second year in a row as Houston would host the Cincinnati Bengals in an AFC Wild Card game which the Texans won 19-13 to advance to the Divisional Round where they would be eliminated by the New England Patriots with a 41-28 defeat.