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HOUSTON -- The Houston Texans' injuries continued to pile up in their 27-24 victory over the Oakland Raiders, but once again, Deshaun Watson found a way to lead his team to victory. The Texans were trailing by four points at the Oakland 9-yard line with less than seven minutes left. As Watson spun around to avoid a sack, he appeared to get kicked in the face. After escaping the pressure, he adjusted his face mask before throwing his third touchdown of the game, and second to tight end Darren Fells. Houston did not trail again. Watson was checked out by the medical staff on the field after the play but was in again on the Texans' final offensive series.  After throwing two interceptions in back-to-back weeks, Watson did not commit a turnover against the Raiders. He completed 27 of 39 passes for 279 yards and three touchdowns.
Troubling trend: The Texans’ secondary was thin entering the game, with cornerbacks Johnathan Joseph (hamstring/neck) and Bradley Roby (hamstring) inactive, and Houston ran into even more injury trouble against the Raiders. Cornerback Lonnie Johnson was evaluated for a concussion in the second quarter and was later ruled out for the rest of the game. Houston had already traded for cornerback Gareon Conley on Monday to bolster the secondary. J.J. Watt left the game with a shoulder injury in the second quarter and was ruled out for the remainder in the third quarter. Eye-popping stat: After scoring a touchdown with 14:56 left in the game, the Texans kicked an extra point while trailing by two rather than try a two-point conversion. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, there had been 29 times since 2016 that a team scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter when down by eight points. All 29 went for two. Houston is the first team to kick the extra point in that spot since the Bears in 2015 against the Lions. The Texans went on to score another touchdown with less than seven minutes left in the game and did not trail again. The streak continues: The Texans’ success against the run continued on Sunday. For a 24th consecutive regular-season game, Houston did not allow a 100-yard rusher. Raiders running back Josh Jacobs had 45 yards on nine carries at halftime but slowed down in the second half, finishing with 66 yards on 15 carries.
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