Matt Ammendola hit a 38-yard field goal as time expired to lead the visiting Houston Texans past the Cincinnati Bengals 30-27 on Sunday.
Ammendola was elevated from the practice squad to take the place of injured Ka’imi Fairbairn.
CJ Stroud followed up his record-setting rookie performance by throwing for 356 yards on 23-of-39 passing for Houston (5-4). He added a rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Devin Singletary ran for 150 yards and a touchdown on 30 carries to lead the Texans, who blew a 10-point lead with three-plus minutes remaining, only to rescue the game at the end.
Houston’s Noah Brown added seven catches for a game-high 172 yards and set up the game-winning score with a 22-yard reception over the middle.
Joe Burrow threw 27-of-40 for 347 yards and two touchdowns. But he threw fourth-quarter interceptions on back-to-back drives before engineering a late rally. The Bengals (5-4) saw their four-game win streak come to an end.
After back-to-back intercepted passes thrown by Burrow, Cam Taylor-Britt gave the Bengals new life when he intercepted Stroud and returned it to the Houston 4. Joe Mixon’s 1-yard TD run made it 27-24 Texans with 3:18 left in the fourth quarter.
The Bengals held the Texans and forced a punt. Burrow then led the Bengals downfield on a 64-yard pass to Tyler Boyd that put the Bengals at the Houston 7. They settled for Evan McPherson’s game-tying 31-yard field goal with 1:33 left.
Cincinnati was without starting defensive end Sam Hubbard and starting wide receiver Tee Higgins due to injury.
For the fifth straight game, the Bengals scored a touchdown on their opening drive.
With Higgins inactive due to a hamstring injury and Ja’Marr Chase coming off a deep bruise to his back after a fall to the turf seven days earlier, Burrow used Chase as a decoy on the opening drive. Burrow targeted tight end Tanner Hudson five times for five catches and 28 yards, including a 3-yard gain on fourth-and-3.
Tight end Mitchell Wilcox and running back Joe Mixon were also targeted in the pass game on the opening drive. But it was Trenton Irwin, filling in for Higgins, who made the biggest catch of the drive, a 32-yard touchdown grab down the right sideline on a perfect pass from Burrow.
Stroud found Tank Dell for a 6-yard touchdown in the second quarter, and Ammendola’s 45-yard field goal with 10 seconds left in the half gave Houston a 10-7 lead.
Each team scored 10 in the third quarter, the highlight being Burrow’s running throw to Chase for a 64-yard touchdown.
–Field Level Media
