Nick Folk hit a game winning field goal with 15 seconds left on Sunday afternoon, lifting the New England Patriots to a come from behind 25-22 win over the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.
Houston (1-4) took over 10 minutes off the clock with the first drive of the game, and rookie quarterback Davis Mills hit Anothony Auclair for an 11 yard touchdown pass. The Texans missed the extra point and it was 6-0. The Patriots rookie signal caller Mac Jones came right back though to tie it, completing two key third down throws of 15 yards to Kendrick Bourne and 11 yards to Nelson Agholor the second of which put the ball at the Houston 7 yard line. Damien Harris took a direct snap on third and goal at the Texans 1 and ran it in to tie it as Folk also missed his extra point. It took the hosts just 1:21 to regain the lead as Mills found Chris Moore who made a great leaping catch between two defenders along the right sideline, and then ran paat the New England secondary for a 67 yard strike. Ka’imi Fairbairn missed a second extra point though however. A fumble by Harris as he was going in for a touchdown led to a Fairbairn field goal to make it 15-6, before Folk got three back with a 52 yarder before the half to cut it back to six.
On the first drive of the second half, Jones was intercepted by Lonnie Johnson at his own 44 and then Houston pulled out some trickery with a flea flicker as Mills found a wide open Chris Conley for a 37 yard TD to extend to the biggest lead of the day 22-9. The Patriots cut into the lead on kicks of 52 and 32 by Folk before the end of the quarter to slice the deficit to seven, and Fairbairn missed an attempt of 56 yards early in the fourth quarter. New England had good field position and would tie it up at 22-22 when Jones found Hunter Henry for a 13 yard touchdown with 9:36 left. Jamie Collins, who is now making a third stint with the Pats after being released by the Detroit Lions, made a huge play on Mills on the next Houston possession. On a 2nd down and 8, Collins sacked Mills for an eight yard loss that would lead to a punt. The last drive of the game by the guests started with a Jones to Jakobi Meyers completion of 24 yards, but then Harris was dropped for a six yard loss where he was injured and Jones was sacked for another five yard loss. New England got a break when Maliek Collins was called for roughing the passer on 3rd and 18 for an automatic first down, and after that Brandon Bolden had a big 24 yard run to get them into position for the winner by Folk from 21 yards.
Jones finished the day 23-30 passing for 231 yards with one touchdown and one interception, as the Patriots improve their record to 2-3. Harris had 14 carries for 58 yards and a touchdown before leaving with a chest injury on the final drive and didn’t return. Henry was the leading receiver with six catches for 75 yards and a score, while Myers caught four for 56. Kyle Dugger had five total tackles to lead the defense. Mills went 21-29 for 312 yards and three touchdowns passing in the loss for the Texans. Rookie QBs are now 1-11 against New England since 2011. Mark Ingram had 16 carries for 41 yards, while Moore caught five passes for 109 and Conley had three for 84 yards as they both scored a touchdown each. Terrance Mitchell and Christian Kirksey had six tackles a piece for the Houston defense. New England returns home next Sunday for a 4:25 p.m. kickoff against the 4-1 Dallas Cowboys.
