Schaub rallies Texans past Jaguars, 43-37
HOUSTON — Tied in overtime with one of the NFL’s worst teams, the Houston Texans turned to their superstar to pull out the victory.
Andre Johnson caught a screen pass from Matt Schaub and ran 48 yards for the winning touchdown as the Texans rallied to beat Jacksonville 43-37 on Sunday.
Schaub threw a career-high five touchdown passes, completed a franchise-record 43 passes and finished with 527 yards in the air, second most in NFL history. Warren Moon also threw for 527 yards for the Houston Oilers in December 1990 against Kansas City.
Norm Van Brocklin holds the record with 554 for the Rams in 1951.
Schaub completed his final 16 passes in regulation time to rally the Texans.
Johnson caught 14 passes for 273 yards, both career highs; the yardage was a team record. The Texans (9-1) won an overtime game for the first time at Reliant Stadium.
Chad Henne threw a career-high four touchdown passes in relief of injured Blaine Gabbert for the Jaguars (1-9). First-round pick Justin Blackmon finally had his breakout game, making seven catches for 236 yards. It was the first time in NFL history opposing players each had more than 200 yards receiving in the same game.
Blackmon caught Henne’s pass at midfield, shrugged off two defenders for a stunning 81-yard touchdown with 12:33 left in regulation to put Jacksonville up 34-20.
Schaub then threw two touchdown passes to tight end Garrett Graham in the final 5:39 to force overtime.
Shayne Graham and Josh Scobee kicked field goals in overtime and, for a while, it looked like NFL would have its second tie in two weeks. San Francisco and St. Louis finished 24-24 last week.
Henne threw incomplete on fourth-and-10 from the Houston 47, and the Texans regained possession with 2:30 left in OT. Schaub flipped a screen pass to Johnson, who sprinted untouched down the right sideline for the winning score.
The Texans improved to 2-7 in overtime in their history, while the Jaguars dropped to 0-3 in OT this season.
Gabbert left in the first quarter with a bruised right elbow. Henne looked much more effective against the Texans.
Playing for only the fourth time this season, Henne barely beat a Houston blitz with a throw to Blackmon for a 63-yard gain, then found tight end Marcedes Lewis in the end zone late in the opening period. The Texans hadn’t allowed a touchdown since their 43-13 win over Baltimore on Oct. 21.
The Jaguars had 238 yards in the first half, just 26 yards shy of their average output this season.
Henne started the second half with a 39-yard throw to Blackmon, then found Blackmon again to convert a third down to the Houston 30. Scobee kicked a 40-yard field goal to put Jacksonville up again, 20-17.
Arian Foster fumbled and Schaub threw an interception as the Texans looked like they might get embarrassed at home after beating Chicago at rainy Soldier Field last week.
Schaub was flawless in leading the Texans back, though, and Houston had a chance to escape in regulation, but Graham badly hooked a 47-yard field-goal attempt at the end.
The Texans finished with 640 total yards.