It is a second-and-6 no one will forget.
With 4:16 to go in overtime between the Houston Texans and Buffalo Bills Saturday in the AFC wild-card at NRG Stadium, quarterback Deshaun Watson was about to take a hit on an all-out blitz from DB Siran Neal and LB Matt Milano.
Texans safety Justin Reid was watching the video board at NRG and saw the situation about to unfold in Watson’s eighth sack of the game.
“I saw the blitz coming from the screen,” Reid told reporters. “At that point, my heart sunk. I saw him come free. I was like, ‘Aw, man.’
“And then he somehow, Houdini again.”
Watson got away from the Bills defenders and found running back Taiwan Jones, who turned the reception into a 34-yard gain to setup Ka’imi Fairbairn’s 28-yard game-winning field goal to send Houston to the divisional round for the fourth time in franchise history.
For Reid, the great escape from Watson was just part of the legend that the two-time Pro Bowler wrote throughout the season with his stellar play and big heart.
Said Reid: “He done lost an eye this year. He done all types of things, spun out of it, threw it to Taiwan. Taiwan, especially last week, Taiwan went off last week, and then he came and made that huge play for us, got it down to the 10-yard line.
“Unbelievable feeling.”
The Texans will now face the Kansas City Chiefs on Jan. 12 at 2:05 p.m. CT at Arrowhead Stadium. Houston came away from the eventual AFC West champion’s home with a 31-24 win in Week 6, and it was also due to some of Watson’s playmaking ability. The Texans will need him to summon additional Houdini tricks if the Texans are to reach their first conference title game in club history, and the city of Houston’s first AFC Championship Game since 1979.
