Tight Rope Act: Texans Extend Their Winning Streak by Defeating the Broncos 19 – 17

Brian Barefield | 11/9/2018, 8:45 a.m.
Hunter S. Thompson once wrote, “Luck is a very thin wire between survival and disaster, and not many people can …
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Hunter S. Thompson once wrote, “Luck is a very thin wire between survival and disaster, and not many people can keep their balance on it.”

On this past Sunday at Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado, the Houston Texans walked that fine line to perfection to extend their winning streak to six games by defeating the Denver Broncos 19-17. The Texans became the first team since the 1970 New York Giants to win as many consecutive games after starting the 0-3. Houston also won their third consecutive road game and earned their first win in Denver since week three of the 2012 season.

“Yeah, tough place to win. I’ve been out here several times. It’s a really difficult place to win. They’ve got great fans and a great football team. Very well-coached team. I’m very proud of our guys,” said head coach Bill O’ Brien about playing in such a hostile environment.

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Houston was also able to get their newly acquired wide receiver they got from their opponent (Denver) on the field after being with the team for three days. Four-time Pro Bowler Demaryius Thomas played against his former team and was productive by catching 3 passes for 61 yards. Thomas had not had enough time to get fully acclimated to the Texans playbook and it showed late in the game when Houston was forced to call a timeout due to the lack of knowledge of where he (Thomas) needed to be.

“Me being here three days, learning a totally different system and a not easy system. When he tells me, and I still mess up then it’s still a problem, but I was able to go out with the help of DeAndre (Hopkins) and Deshaun (Watson),” Thomas said after being asked about what adjustments he was trying to make on the aforementioned play.

One thing the Houston Texans can rely on is their 2017 All-Pro wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins to always perform. He had 10 catches for 105 yards and 1 touchdown in the victory. Hopkins made clutch catch after clutch catch when the Texans needed it the most. Which is what he has been doing throughout the winning streak. DeAndre believes that this team has been battled tested and have repeatedly found ways to win.

“We are just battle tested from previous games being close. We did what we had to do. Sometimes the ball will go your way,” said Hopkins who now has 894 yards receiving and 7 touchdowns on the year.

The bright spot for the Texans this year has been their defense who consistently finds ways to shut opposing offenses down. They held the Broncos to 5-of-14 on third downs and only 75 rushing yards. Defensive back, Kareem Jackson has been playing at a very high level this year and is drawing some high praises from his teammates.

“He is killing it. That hit today was one of the hardest hits I have seen on a football field. It was clean. It was a great hit. He has been doing that all year,” former All-Pro J.J. Watt said on his teammates big hit on Broncos running back Phillip Lindsay in the third quarter on a swing pass.

The Texans have a bye week but take their lucky high-wire act to Washington next week as they face the Redskins at FedEx field looking to extend their winning streak to seven games.