Houston Texans: Andre Johnson: Chasing 13,000

The Houston Texans once again lost in tough fashion 33-28 to the Indianapolis Colts on prime-time television.

For some reason, the team seems to not do well when nationally televised, they’re better flying under the radar.

Things looked pitiful early-in and it looked like it was going to be a long night as Andrew Luck and Co. got the running game going and starting to chip away at the Front 7.

This was off a Adam Vinatieri field goal, a Trent Richardson five-yard touchdown run, a Ahmad Bradshaw five-yard TD pass and finally a Cody Fleener four-yard TD pass to close out the quarter.

In just that quick of a moment, the Texans found themselves in a heck of a deficit as they glared at the scoreboard and started to cringe.

24-0 Colts.

No way.

At the start of the 2nd quarter, the team started to fight hard and start scaling the mountain of lead that was in front of them.

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This was largely because of severely unproductive drives in the 1st quarter.

Andre Johnson wasn’t having it.

There was a milestone that he was chasing — whether he was intending to do so or not.

To be the 15th NFL player to reach 13,000 receiving yards in their career.

With 9:43 left in the 2nd quarter, Johnson was the culmination of the team’s most productive drive of that game.

He caught a four-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick to put the Texans on the board for the first time of the game.

It was his first touchdown catch of the season.

He was edging closer…

Oct 9, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Texans receiver Andre Johnson (80) catches a touchdown pass in the second quarter against Indianapolis Colts cornerback Greg Toler (28) at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Finally, with 9:01 remaining in the 2nd quarter, some 42 seconds later, he surpassed the 13,000 mark with nine-yard short pass from Fitz.

I’m positive it really didn’t matter to Johnson at that time because all he was focused on was helping his team to get back in the game and reach that common goal — to win the football game.

But it’s important to note that this milestone carries weight — being one of 15 players to complete such a feat is definitely worth noting.  He’s up in the class with guys such as Reggie Wayne, Cris Carter and Torry Holt.

I’m sure his special night was marred with the clutch catch that wasn’t with 4:47 left in the 4th quarter.

He had the catch but bobbled the ball out of his hands that was recovered by Colts’ safety Mike Adams.

Ouch!

You can tell with his facial expression that he frustrated.

He even told the media after the game, he wished he could play that game all over again.

The Houston Chronicle’s Brian T. Smith reports:

Even though the Texans eventually lost the game, Johnson should hold his head up high knowing that he gaining ever-more ammo to make his march toward being enshrined at Canton, OH when he hangs it up.

Johnson finished up catching seven balls for 99 yards and one touchdown. He was just one yard shy of reaching the century mark — he had he not fumbled, he would’ve gotten there.

And the conversation about the outcome of this game would’ve been a lot different.