A Texas-sized mistake
DETROIT — Justin Forsett scooted up the middle and lunged forward while a couple of Detroit defenders closed in to stop him. His knee hit the ground, but the Houston running back hopped up quickly and took off toward the end zone.
“I know now that I was down, but I didn’t think I was during the play,” Forsett said. “I didn’t think my knee hit, and there was no whistle, so I kept going.”
Forsett had nothing to lose by getting up and running — and unbelievably, the 81-yard scoring play stood. The officials missed the call, giving the Texans a touchdown, and Detroit coach Jim Schwartz inadvertently wiped out any chance of a replay review by throwing his challenge flag when he wasn’t allowed to.
That was all Houston needed to start a second-half comeback, and the Texans went on to beat the Lions 34-31 in overtime Thursday.
“Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good,” running back Arian Foster said.
AFC South-leading Houston (10-1) has won five straight — two in a row in OT — and if a handful of teams lose, the Texans could be in the playoffs by the end of this weekend.
The Lions led 24-14 in the third quarter when Forsett scored on his long run. Replays clearly showed Forsett’s knee touching the ground around his own 25 — Detroit players even slowed up, assuming the play was over.
Forsett got up and ran all the way to the end zone.
Scoring plays are reviewed automatically — but if a coach throws a challenge flag like Schwartz did, the review is negated and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty is assessed. So the touchdown stood despite obvious evidence it shouldn’t have.
Detroit (4-7) still led 24-21 after Forsett’s touchdown, and the Lions went up 31-24 on Joique Bell’s 23-yard TD run with 13:31 left in the fourth.
Houston rallied, tying it at 31 on Foster’s 1-yard run with 1:55 to play. That touchdown capped a 15-play, 97-yard drive that included a conversion on fourth-and-7.
“Had our opportunities to win it multiple times. Both teams did,” Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford said. “It was a great football game. Didn’t catch many breaks and couldn’t capitalize on a couple we needed to.”
Texans kicker Shayne Graham missed from 51 yards in overtime, and Detroit’s Jason Hanson hit the right upright from 47. Graham finally connected from 32 to win it.
Detroit extended its losing streak in its annual Thanksgiving showcase to nine.
Hanson’s miss came on third down after the Lions had lost 3 yards on a second-down run. The Lions sent the veteran kicker onto the field instead of trying to move the ball a bit closer.
“We didn’t want to give up a negative play, and they’d been trying really hard to strip the ball, so we didn’t want to risk a turnover,” Schwartz said.
Patriots 49, Jets 19EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Tom Brady couldn’t believe what happened. Neither could Bill Belichick, nor the rest of the New England Patriots, for that matter.They were up 7-0 on the New York Jets one minute, and 28-0 the next. Literally.Three touchdowns in 52 seconds. That was all it took to send the high-scoring Patriots to a 49-19 victory Thursday night — and put the bumbling Jets on the verge of seeing their season slip away.“It all happened so fast,” Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo said. “I’ve never been part of anything like that, but I’m glad that we were on the right side of it.”Brady threw three touchdown passes and ran for a score as the Patriots (8-3) took advantage of five turnovers and used a 35-point second quarter — including the three TDs in less than a minute — to cruise past the Jets (4-7).“That was quick,” Patriots defensive end Rob Ninkovich said. “They were some of the quickest scores I’ve ever seen on any level.”New England’s 35 second-quarter points tied for the fourth-most in a quarter in NFL history. After a scoreless opening period, the Patriots then went on a touchdown spree despite holding the ball for only 2:14 as the Jets kept giving the ball away.The Patriots jumped on a poor decision by Mark Sanchez, who ruined a nice drive by keying in on Jeremy Kerley on second-and-6 from the 23. Steve Gregory read the play the whole way for an easy interception.Brady then led the Patriots on a 15-play, 84-yard drive that was capped by Wes Welker’s 3-yard touchdown catch on the first play of the second quarter.Things got out of hand in a hurry a few minutes later.After New England recovered a fumble by Shonn Greene, Brady threw a swing pass on first down to Shane Vereen, who zipped down the left sideline untouched for an 83-yard touchdown that made it 14-0 with 9:43 remaining in the opening half.The Patriots were back in the end zone moments later after Sanchez fumbled on second down as he fell when he slammed into right guard Brandon Moore’s backside. Gregory picked up the ball and ran it 32 yards for a score to put New England up 21-0 with 9 minutes left.And, the Patriots weren’t done.Joe McKnight, one of the league’s top returners, fumbled the ensuing kickoff on a hit by Devin McCourty. Julian Edelman grabbed the ball out of the air and scooted 22 yards for yet another score, making it 28-0 with 8:51 remaining in the half.
Redskins 38, Cowboys 31ARLINGTON, Texas — Robert Griffin III will always be RG3. That didn’t stop Washington coach Mike Shanahan from trying something a little different after his rookie quarterback was equal parts sparkling and steady in his Texas debut.“He’s kind of like `Cool Hand Luke,”’ Shanahan said. “He doesn’t get too upset about anything.”The Heisman Trophy winner from Baylor threw for three touchdowns in a dazzling second quarter, then calmly quelled a Dallas rally reminiscent of a comeback that made Cowboys vs. Redskins on Thanksgiving famous, leading Washington to a 38-31 victory Thursday.Griffin finished with 311 passing yards and four TDs, and made Dallas look like an overmatched college team in building a 28-3 halftime lead thanks to a 28-point second quarter, the first for the Redskins (5-6) in 13 years.After Tony Romo threw the longest touchdown of his career — an 85-yarder to Dez Bryant late in the third quarter — Griffin answered by becoming the first Redskins quarterback with four TD tosses in consecutive games.
