2012 Houston Texans season The Houston Texans season was the franchise ' s 11th season in the National Football League and the 7th under head coach Gary Kubiak . The Texans improved on their 10 – 6 record from 2011 , in which the team earned its first playoff berth and division title in franchise history . The Texans won their second consecutive AFC South division title , and defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in the Wild Card round of the playoffs for a second consecutive season , but were defeated by the New England Patriots in the divisional round . Schedule . Preseason . The Texans ' preseason schedule was announced on April 4 , 2012 . Game summaries . Regular season . Week 1 : vs . Miami Dolphins . The Houston Texans began their 10th anniversary campaign with lofty expectations , with many columnists picking them to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl . Despite the lofty expectations , the Texans began the season rather flatly , only managing a field goal on offense against and younger , more inexperienced Dolphins team . Miami played the Texans tough throughout the first half , thanks in part to Reggie Bush ' s contributions on the ground . However , the game took a stunning turn after the two minute warning of the first half as the Texans forced three Dolphin turnovers , and quickly converted them into touchdowns to stretch the lead to 24 - 3 before halftime . The Texans continued to ride their defense to a season opening 30 - 10 win over Miami . Houston improved to 7 - 0 all - time against the Miami Dolphins as they started their season 1 - 0 . Week 2 : at Jacksonville Jaguars . The Texans entered their first division clash of the season looking to establish their will on the ground . Behind a punishing ground attack with Arian Foster and Ben Tate , as well as an efficient defensive effort led by second year defensive lineman J . J . Watt , the Texans dominated the game with a time of possession of 43 : 17 on their way to a 27 - 7 victory in Jacksonville . With the win , the Texans improved to 2 - 0 for the 3rd straight season . Week 3 : at Denver Broncos . The Texans entered this highly anticipated early season matchup coming face - to - face once again with a familiar longtime AFC South nemesis in the form of former Colts quarterback Peyton Manning , who had sat out the 2011 season due to a neck injury . Now back and in Denver , Manning came into the game looking to continue his mastery over the Houston Texans franchise . However , it was Matt Schaub who took control of the game early , throwing 4 touchdown passes , and overcoming a brutal hit where he lost a chunk of his ear . Despite Peyton Manning fueling a Broncos comeback attempt in the 4th quarter , the Texans were able to hang on and defeat the Broncos by 6 points . With the win , the Texans improved to 3 - 0 for the first time ever . This was also their first road victory against Peyton Manning as they improved to 1 - 0 against Peyton in road games as a Bronco ( 0 - 9 vs . Peyton on the road as a Colt ) . Week 4 : vs . Tennessee Titans . Despite Chris Johnson breaking out with his first 100 + yard rushing game for the Titans this season , Tennessee was unable to contain a dynamic Texans team , who recorded two touchdowns on defense en route to blowout the former Oilers 38 - 14 . With the win , the Texans improved to 4 - 0 for the first time in franchise history . Week 5 : at New York Jets . Many expected the Texans to roll through the seemingly dismal Jets team in their first primetime appearance of the season . Even though the Texans never trailed in the game , the Jets kept pace throughout , thanks in large part to a 100 yard kickoff return touchdown by the Jets ' Joe McKnight . The Texans were able to keep the Jets at bay just enough to earn a hard fought win on the road , and improve to 5 - 0 , remaining one of only two teams undefeated in the NFL to this point . This was also the first time the Texans have ever defeated the New York Jets in their 11 - year history , making them 1 - 5 against the Jets overall and improving their regular season record to 5 - 0 . Week 6 : vs . Green Bay Packers . The Texans came into their first ever appearance on Sunday Night Football facing playoff favorites Green Bay , who had shockingly started the season 2 - 3 , one of those losses ending in controversy over a disputed touchdown call by the replacement NFL referees in Seattle in week 3 . And coming off another disappointing loss to Indianapolis the week before , the Green Bay Packers took out all of their early season frustrations out on the Texans at Reliant Stadium , and at the same time , reestablished themselves as the team to beat in the NFC . Aaron Rodgers tore up the Texans defense with 6 touchdown passes , and the Packers as the Texans dropped to 5 - 1 and 0 - 1 on Sunday Night Football . Week 7 : vs . Baltimore Ravens . Battle Red Day The Texans had little time to think about the disappointing results the week before at home against Green Bay , as the Baltimore Ravens , the team who had eliminated them in the divisional round of the playoffs the previous year , were coming to town . The Texans rebounded from their worst performance of the year with arguably one of their best as they had limited Baltimore ' s revitalized offense to just 13 , forcing two turnovers in an impressive win going into the bye week . It was the first time the Texans had ever defeated the Ravens in their franchise history ( they had lost the previous six meetings , including the playoff matchup ) . Reliant Stadium set a new Texans home attendance record of 71 , 708 fans during the regular season . Likewise , the Ravens and Texans were the only 2 teams in the AFC who where above . 500 at the point of this game . However , the Texans surprisingly won it as the team went into their bye week at 6 - 1 and also went 1 - 6 all - time against the Ravens . Week 9 : vs . Buffalo Bills . The game marked the anticipated return of former Texans number one draft pick Mario Williams , who had signed a multi - year $ 100 million contract with the Bills over the offseason , back to Reliant Stadium . While Williams performed well in his return , the Bills were unable to muster up a touchdown drive over the Texans defense as Houston improved to 7 - 1 with a 21 - 9 win . Also , the team took the all - time series to . 500 with a 3 - 3 record against the Bills . Week 10 : at Chicago Bears . The primetime game was played in a mix of rain and snow at Soldier Field , conditions that have typically meant trouble for teams that play their home games in warm weather or controlled environments , such as the Texans . Despite the conditions , the Texans were able to ground out a 13 - 6 win on the road to improve to 8 - 1 on the season , 3 - 0 overall against the Chicago Bears and 1 - 1 on Sunday Night Football . Week 11 : vs . Jacksonville Jaguars . After a hard fought win in Chicago , and on the cusp of a short turnaround for a Thursday afternoon matchup in Detroit the following week , the 8 - 1 Texans hosted the 1 - 8 Jaguars at Reliant . The Texans survive an upset scare from Jacksonville thanks to a career high 527 passing yards from Matt Schaub and 275 receiving yards from Andre Johnson . Notably , the Texans become the first NFL team to score twice in an overtime period under the new overtime format . With the win , the Texans improved to 9 - 1 as the team swept the Jaguars . Week 12 : at Detroit Lions . Thanksgiving Classic After defeating the Jaguars at home in overtime , the Texans traveled to Detroit to play in their first ever Thanksgiving Day game . Many touchdowns were scored between both of the teams , but the Texans got the better edge of it when Justin Forsett ran for a controversial touchdown from deep in the Texans ' territory . With their 2nd - straight overtime victory , the Texans improved to 10 - 1 , 1 - 0 on Thanksgiving , and 2 - 1 against the Lions all - time . Week 13 : at Tennessee Titans . After a grueling stretch where they endured two hard fought overtime matches over a span of 5 days , the Texans took the opportunity of a prolonged week to heal up and rest in advance of the stretch run to the playoffs . The Texans took the AFC ' s best record into Tennessee to face a reeling Titans team , fresh off of firing their offensive coordinator earlier in the week . The Texans staked out to an early lead and never looked back as the defense forced 6 Titans turnovers and held Titans running back Chris Johnson to 51 yards en route to a relatively stress free 24 - 10 victory . With the win , the Texans set a new team record for wins in a season , while improving to 11 - 1 and also clinched the franchise ' s second straight trip to the playoffs and swept the Titans for the first time since 2004 . Week 14 : at New England Patriots . The Texans were thoroughly outplayed in what would turn out to be a preview of the Divisional Round rematch between both teams . The Texans dropped to 11 - 2 with the loss . Week 15 : vs . Indianapolis Colts . With their victory over the Colts , the Texans improved to 12 - 2 on the season and 5 - 0 against division rivals , thereby securing their second AFC South title in franchise history . Because the Patriots dropped to 10 - 4 several hours later on the same day , the Texans can clinch homefield advantage throughout the playoffs by winning at least one of their two remaining games by virtue of their head - to - head tiebreaker over the Broncos . Week 16 : vs . Minnesota Vikings . With the loss in their regular season home finale , the Texans dropped to 12 - 3 on the season and 6 - 2 at home , finishing 0 - 2 at home against NFC North teams . Houston remains winless ( 0 - 3 ) against the Minnesota Vikings in franchise history . Week 17 : at Indianapolis Colts . Hoping to rebound from a tough loss , the Texans traveled to Indianapolis for game 2 against the Andrew Luck - led Colts . However , the Texans lost this game and finished 12 - 4 for the season and 0 - 11 against the Colts in Indianapolis . With wins by the Broncos and Patriots , the Texans dropped in conference standings , taking the AFC ' s # 3 seed for the 2nd straight year , and would host the Bengals in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs - - also for a 2nd straight year . Postseason . AFC Wild Card Playoff Game : vs . # 6 Cincinnati Bengals . In somewhat of a sloppy game for both teams , the Texans booted the Cincinnati Bengals out of the playoffs for the 2nd straight year and moved on to the Divisional Round . After going up 6 - 0 on two Shayne Graham field goals to start the game , Matt Schaub threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown to give the Bengals a 7 - 6 lead . Coming out of halftime , the Texans defense stiffened up for the rest of the game , forcing the Bengals to 0 - 9 on 3rd down conversions , holding 2nd - year QB Andy Dalton to 14 completions in 30 attempts for 127 passing yards , and only 2 more field goals as the Texans hung on for the victory . AFC Divisional Playoff Game : at # 2 New England Patriots . The Texans were eliminated from the playoffs for the 2nd year in a row in a game reminiscent of the Week 14 matchup against the Patriots . Entering the game , both teams combined were 12 - 0 at home against other AFC teams . Again , the Texans were outplayed and out - coached , losing despite possessing the ball for about 31 : 34 minutes compared to their opponent ' s 28 : 36 . An intercepted pass that doomed a promising drive and a turnover on downs late in the 3rd quarter put the game out of reach as New England ran away with the score , boasting impressive performances from QB Tom Brady , RBs Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen , and WR Wes Welker .