Houston joins Cleveland as the only teams with a fumble return TD and an interception return TD in a playoff game.
The Houston Texans closed out Wild Card weekend with a dominating defeat of the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night.
The loss marked the seventh consecutive playoff defeat for the Steelers, tying head coach Mike Tomlin with former Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis for the longest postseason losing streak in NFL history.
The game also marked the sixth consecutive one-and-done playoff appearance for the franchise. In those six games, the Steelers have not held a lead in the second half at any point.
Houston’s win was fueled by a dominant defense that limited the Steelers to 175 total yards, allowed just 2-of-14 conversions on third down, and sacked quarterback Aaron Rodgers four times.
The Texans added a historic note in the fourth quarter when defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins returned a fumble 33 yards for a touchdown, and safety Calen Bullock returned an interception 50 yards for a touchdown. That marked just the second time in NFL history that a team had a fumble return for a touchdown and an interception return for a touchdown in a playoff game.
The only other team to accomplish that? The 1948 Cleveland Browns.
Cleveland was the dominant team in the All-America Football Conference from the moment the league kicked off in 1946. The Browns rolled to titles in 1946 and 1947, but it was their championship squad of 1948 that may have been the best of the group.
The Browns opened the season with a win over the Los Angeles Dons that was not as close as the final 19-14 score would indicate. From there, Cleveland rolled through the league with a perfect 14-0 record, setting up a championship game meeting with the Buffalo Bills.
In the third meeting between the teams that season, the Browns rolled over the Bills, doubling their total yardage and forcing eight turnovers in a 49-7 win, Cleveland’s highest point total of the season. Defensive end George Young returned a fumble 18 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter, and then defensive back Lou Saban returned an interception 39 yards for a touchdown to close out the scoring in the fourth quarter.
The victory made Cleveland the first team to win three consecutive championship games, and the Browns were also the first team to finish a season unbeaten and untied.
And now, 77 years after their dominant performance against the Bills, the Browns are joined by the Texans in playoff history after Houston’s own dominant game against the Steelers.
Category: General Sports
