Monday night is breeding all sorts of miracles. Last week, Bears backup tight end Zach Miller shocked the Chargers with a game-sealing one-handed touchdown grab after having caught only three balls all season. His winning score catapulted the Bears back into the playoff race and since that play, Miller has been on fire, rattling off 107 receiving yards and two touchdowns against the Rams in Week 10, including one 87-yarder.
This week, it was deja vu all over again, as DeAndre Hopkins sent the Texans surging towards a share of the AFC South lead with a game-winning catch.
Topping Week 10's Top 10 "Performance Moments of the Week" presented by Bridgestone is Hopkins' one-handed -- and one-shouldered -- fourth-quarter touchdown.
It hasn't been the easiest season in Houston. The quarterback position has been a mystery wrapped in an enigma. The Texans' defense, led by mega-person J.J. Watt, has been gashed repeatedly by average offenses. Houston's star running back, Arian Foster, started the season with a groin injury and then went on to suffer a season-ending Achilles injury in October.
But Houston has turned it around. With Ryan Mallett off the roster and Brian Hoyer fixed as the team's starting quarterback, the offense has steadied. However, Hoyer was knocked out early against the undefeated Bengals on Monday night with a concussion, and the Texans' attack had slowed to a halt. Down three points and led by Mallett replacement T.J. Yates, Houston defied all odds and marched down the field with just over two minutes to go in the third quarter. On his first drive of the game, Yates short-tossed the Texans down to the Bengals' 22-yard line. Before reaching the red zone, Houston decided to take a shot with its top playmaker, and the move paid off.
On 2nd-and-10 from the 22, Yates dropped back and launched a pretty ball down the left sideline to a streaking Hopkins. Guarded by Adam Jones, who had blanketed the star receiver all night, Hopkins fought off the corner's press as the ball sailed toward the sidelines. With Jones turned around, Hopkins high-pointed the ball with his left hand and brought it down toward his shoulder. Hopkins secured the pass there and finished the pass off with some nifty toe-drag swag.
The catch sent the Texans up 10-6 with 14 minutes left in the game, a lead that Watt and the defense did not relinquish en route to a much-needed win. If Houston goes on to make a run at the postseason -- and tied atop the AFC South, that's as real a possibility as ever this year -- Hopkins' miraculous catch will be considered the season's turning point, the moment on which their fates hinged.
Also on the countdown: Perry Rileydoesn't need two hands. ... Zach Miller isn't done breaking off big plays. ... Johnny Football scrambles like he's trying to keep his job. Well done.
