ATLANTA — The Texans fell short against the Falcons on Sunday after Atlanta kicked a game-winning field goal as time expired to win 21-19.
The Texans were hoping for their first winning record since they were 1-0 to begin the 2021 season. Houston moved to 2-3 on the year while the Falcons went to 3-2.
Game recap
Atlanta won the toss and elected to take the ball but Houston's defense came up with a three-and-out on the first drive of the game.
The Texans opened the scoring on the ensuing drive when Ka'imi Fairbairn connected on a 38-yard field goal after a 6-play, 28-yard drive from Houston's offense.
Atlanta answered immediately with a 7-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to take a 7-3 lead.
Fairbairn converted two more field goals in the second quarter giving the Texans a 9-7 lead at half.
Second half
Early in the second half, Texans quarterback CJ Stroud set an NFL mark by throwing his 177th pass of the season without an interception.
The Texans' defense was forced two turnovers in the third quarter but the offense was only able to turn the fumble recoveries into 3 points, making it 12-7.
The Texans went three-and-out after the second fumble recovery and the Falcons produced a 13-play, 74-yard touchdown drive to take the lead. After a successful 2-point conversion, Atlanta held a 15-12 lead with just over 12 minutes to go in the game.
With just under 7 minutes to go in the game, the Falcons tacked on a field goal thanks to a 9-play, 59-yard drive that ate up just over 4 minutes.
After getting the ball back down 18-12, Houston running back Dameon Pierce led the Houston offense into Atlanta territory thanks in large part to a 14-yard run and a 16-yard catch.
With just over 5 minutes to go in the game, the Texans started pushing toward the endzone from the Falcons' 40-yard line.
On a second-and-7 from the ATL 31, Stroud connected with Robert Woods for a 12-yard gain to get into the red zone. Back-to-back runs by Pierce netted Houston 1 yard, leaving them in a third-and-9 from the 19.
Out of the two-minute warning, Stroud hit Dalton Shultz in the endzone to tie the game. The Fairbairn extra point gave the Texans a 19-18 lead.
The Falcons, however, marched right back down the field, getting to the Texans' 26-yard line with 47 seconds left in the game. Houston burned its timeouts as Atlanta took two knees and bled the clock to 1 second.
Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo then made a 37-yard field goal to win the game.
