Third-year Houston Texans wide receiver Nico Collins put up a career season for the upstart team, catching 80 passes for 1,297 yards with eight touchdowns.
Houston knew that Collins had to continue with this stellar play to help rookie wide receiver C.J. Stroud heading into Saturday’s NFL Playoff game against the Cleveland Browns in Houston.
Pretty much out of the gate, that’s exactly what happened.
Collins opened the game with a 21-yard catch from Stroud early in the first quarter, beating Juan Thornhill in the process.
After Houston was forced to punt, its next possession saw Collins put the team in field goal position with a 38-yard catch-and-run while beating star Cleveland cornerback Greg Newsome in coverage.
Nico Collins’ adjustment to make this catch was absolutely amazing. Unfortuntely for the Texans, they could not get the ball in from the three yard line and had to settle for a 3-0 lead with a field goal.
After Cleveland took a 7-3 lead via a touchdown of their own, Collins and his Texans responded in a big way. That included the youngster catching a 15-yard touchdown pass from Stroud.
For Collins, this is just the continuation of what has been absolutely dominant recent play. The former Michigan star caught a combined 16 passes for 275 yards over the final two regular-season games.