The Carolina Panthers and Houston Texans looked to take the lead in the all-time series as both teams were 2-2 and had not played each other since 2015,
The last time the Panthers played in Houston was in 2011. Carolina won both of those games with a seven-point lead over Houston, however, they were favored by less than 25 percent in the ESPN Football Points Index to win the game Sunday afternoon. Ultimately, the Panthers came away with the six-point victory over the Texans, 16-10.
The game opened with Carolina having the first possession, and Christian McCaffery rushed the ball three times, and received a pass from Kyle Allen before a defensive penalty was called on cornerback Lonnie Johnson Jr. for pass interference with five yards enforced. On the next play Allen was sacked by linebacker Brennan Scarlett who forced a fumble, and Benardrick McKinney recovered the ball for a one-yard gain.
Houston’s first possession lasted just over seven minutes for 11 plays and 21 yards. Carlos Hyde rushed the ball the first two out of three passes and Duke Johnson rushed the ball on the fifth and sixth plays. Deshaun Watson connected with Jordan Akins, Deandre Hopkins, Hyde, and Will Fuller during the plays in between the rushing passes. Following a defensive holding penalty called on Carolina linebacker Shaq Thompson which resulted in an enforced five yards, Watson was sacked by Thompson for a loss of seven yards and then again by Mario Addison for a loss of four yards.
Carolina regained possession of the ball and Christian McCaffery ran three of the six plays, and Allen connected with DJ Moore, but was unable to connect with Greg Olsen, and the Panthers’ rookie kicker Joey Slye put the first points on the board with a 48-yard field goal.
Carolina was up 3-0 with 2:28 left in the first quarter. Houston completed five plays in their next possession before the first quarter came to an end, with the Panthers still on top.
The Texans started on the Carolina 37-yard line with first down and 10 yards to go when Hyde rushed for one yard, Watson connected with Hyde for three yards, and then threw an incomplete pass. The Texans tried to convert this possession into points by also kicking a field goal attempt, but kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn kicked wide right and missed the 52-yard field goal.
Carolina returned for three and out in the next possession, and in the first play of the next Houston possession Watson was again sacked by Mario Addison for a loss of six yards. Watson then completed two passes to Keke Coutee for 20 yards combined before offensive and defensive holding penalties were called on each team.
After nine more plays, Fairbairn successfully kicked a 37-yard field goal to tie the game 3-3 with eight minutes left in the first half. Kyle Allen connected with Curtis Samuel for nine yards and with Greg Olsen for two yards, along with McCaffrey who caught a 21-yard pass following his rushing for a couple of yards two plays prior. Whitney Mercilus sacked Allen and forced a fumble which was then recovered by Carolos Watkins ending the Carolina possession early.
Houston was unable to convert the next possession into any points, and play ended on the fourth play when Russ Cockrell intercepted a pass meant for Carlos Hyde, giving Carolina possession one more time in the first half. McCaffrey rushed for six yards before the two-minute warning timeout, and then Allen threw an incomplete pass, connected with Wright for 27 yards and McCaffrey for another 18 yards before Houston called a timeout with 1:11 left on the clock.
Following the timeout, McCaffrey rushed for three yards giving Carolina the first touchdown of the game, and extending the lead 10-3, which they would keep going into halftime.
Kyle Allen recorded 10/15 pass completions for 117 yards while Christian McCaffrey posted not only 12 carries for 56 yards and one touchdown, but also recorded 4 receptions for 57 yards in the first half.
Deshaun Watson completed 11 of 17 passes for 81 yards, Duke Jonson posted four carries for 51 yards, and Kenny Stills recorded 2 receptions for 24 yards going into the second half of the game.
Houston started the third quarter with possession of the ball, and Watson was sacked on the third play of that possession for a loss of eight yards. Watson then threw an incomplete pass to Hopkins before connecting with Darren Fells for 12 yards, short of the first down.
Carolina’s first possession of the second half ended when Allen was sacked on the fourth play, and J.J. Watt recovered the ball at the Carolina 18-yard line. Watson connected with Hyde for the first three plays of the following possession for a combined total of 17 yards before Watson rushed one yard to get the first Houston touchdown, and tying the game 10-10 with 7:25 on the clock.
Carolina was unable to convert the next possession into any points even with eight plays and possession of the ball for 3:39.
Hyde began the next Houston possession with a five-yard rush, which was negated with a false start penalty.
Watson threw two incomplete passes, and Carolina was called for an illegal Block above the waist with 10 yards enforced, and illegal blindside blocking, in which the penalty was declined following a 59-yard punt.
The possession started on the Carolina 21-yard line and McCaffrey rushed for six yards, Allen connected with Wright for no gain of yards, and connected with Moore for 15 yards before Houston called a timeout with 1:55 left in the third quarter.
McCaffrey rushed for three yards, Allen again connected with Wright for 12 yards, threw an incomplete pass, and connected with McCaffrey for six yards before a Defensive Offside penalty was called with five yards enforced. McCaffrey rushed for one more yard before the end of the quarter, and the game remained tied at 10-10 heading in the final quarter of the game.
Kyle Allen threw an incomplete pass for the first play leaving it up to the rookie kicker, Slye to put three more points on the board, which he did with a 55-yard field goal kick, and just ten seconds off the clock, 13-10, 14:50 left to go. The Texans returned in their first possession of the final quarter for a three and out and loss of nine yards after Houston suffered a sack and an Illegal Shift Penalty.
Carolina took possession of the ball for the nearly the next six minutes, and in ten plays were unable to convert their possession into further points on the board. Christian McCaffrey was a part of every play in the possession except for the second first down in which Allen connected with Samuel, and Greg Olsen rushed the ball in the second and third third-down plays of the possession, and they were unable to convert the next third down ending that possession.
In what would turn out to be their last possession of the game, Watson connected with Hyde for a loss of three yards and connected with Hopkins for nine yards before throwing an incomplete pass to Fuller, in which a defensive pass interference was called on Russ Cockrell. This gave the Texans five yards and the automatic first down.
Johnson was then a part of the next three plays by rushing for a yard, connecting with Watson for 10 additional yards, and rushing for four more yards before Houston called a time out with 4:11 left in the game.
Watson was then sacked for a loss of seven yards and fumbled the ball which was recovered by Eric Reid giving the possession to Carolina one final time.
On the first play a false start penalty was called and five yards enforced, then McCaffrey rushed for six yards, connected with Allen for three yards, and Allen connected with Wright for 17 yards before the Panthers called a timeout with 2:23 left on the clock. McCaffrey rushed for a loss of a yard in the next play and then the whistle blew for the two-minute warning timeout.
McCaffrey came out following the timeout and rushed the ball for 5 yards in 2 plays before Carolina called their final timeout with 31 seconds left on the clock. Joey Slye took to the field one more time and kicked a 26-yard field goal cementing the Panthers’ victory over the Texans, 16-10.
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