Despite a lackluster offensive performance, the Houston Texans did enough at home to earn a 23-21 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday. The Texans maintained their spot as the final wild-card team in the AFC, while also staying one game behind the AFC South-leading Jacksonville Jaguars.
One week after scoring 40 points against the Arizona Cardinals, Houston’s offense struggled for most of the game against Las Vegas. Of their first nine offensive drives, only one had double-digit plays and none of them finished in the end zone. The offense had nine points through the middle of the fourth quarter, but held a 16-14 lead thanks to a defensive touchdown from Derek Stingley Jr.
However, when they needed to put something together to put away the two-win Raiders, the offense found a pulse. A 10-play, 88-yard drive in the fourth quarter ended with a touchdown pass from quarterback C.J. Stroud to tight end Dalton Schultz. That gave the Texans their first two-possession lead of the evening at 23-14.
The Raiders responded with a touchdown less than three minutes later, thanks to Ashton Jeanty’s second explosive TD of the game. Jeanty scored on a 60-yard touchdown reception on third down early in the third quarter and followed it up with a 51-yard scoring run late in the fourth. On the ensuing Texans possession, Houston faced a third-and-20, and the Raiders appeared primed to get the ball back and go for the upset. Instead, Las Vegas committed a crucial defensive pass interference to give Houston a fresh set of downs. A big third-down conversion from Stroud to wide receiver Jayden Higgins, followed by an 11-yard scamper from running back Jawhar Jordan and another third-down conversion from Stroud to wide receiver Nico Collins, was enough to seal the win for Houston.
At 10-5, Houston is just one game up on the Indianapolis Colts for the final wild-card spot in the AFC. The Texans have a tough game in Week 17 against the Los Angeles Chargers, followed by a crucial head-to-head against the Colts to close out the regular season, so Sunday’s game was one they could not afford to drop. Getting the win also keeps the Texans within striking distance of the Jaguars, who won their sixth consecutive game on Sunday, for the division crown.
It was an interesting weekend for the three teams that came into Week 16 tied for the fewest wins in the NFL at two apiece. The Tennessee Titans beat the Kansas City Chiefs for their third win of the season, while the New York Giants lost a close game to the Minnesota Vikings. The Week 17 game between the Raiders and Giants was already a crucial game in deciding the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, but Tennessee’s win only heightened next week’s game in Las Vegas. Barring a tie, the loser of next week’s game between the Raiders and Giants will be the lone two-win team in the league, with one week left in the regular season.