"Led by a rookie quarterback on an improbable 13-play, 80-yard touchdown drive with two seconds in regulation to spare, the Texans sprinted off the field at Paul Brown Stadium on Dec. 11 after defeating the Cincinnati Bengals.

Once inside their locker room, the Texans huddled around a television, coaches and players alike watching the final seconds of New Orleans' win over Tennessee. They erupted in cheers once the outcome was official, because for the first time in franchise history, the AFC South was theirs. They were headed to the playoffs, another first, and Gary Kubiak started handing out game balls.

The first went to owner Bob McNair for obvious reasons. The second went to T.J. Yates, who engineered the winning drive. And the third? Kubiak delivered it to wide receiver Andre Johnson, who'd traveled with the Texans to Cincinnati but wasn't dressed and didn't play after suffering his second hamstring injury of the season a week earlier against Atlanta."