Joe Mixon promised the Houston Texans when they traded for him last offseason that they’d be getting a baller in the backfield.
Consider that mission accomplished following Sunday’s outing at Nissan Stadium against the Tennessee Titans.
Mixon, the Texans’ most consistent offensive weapon, secured his first 1,000-yard rushing season in a Houston uniform on the first drive against Tennesse before being pulled to prepare for the playoffs.
Mixon entered Week 18 needing just seven rushing yards to hit 1,000 for the season. After missing three games, the 2024 Pro Bowl runner wanted a spark to close out his first regular season in the AFC South.
It took just two carries for Mixon to surpass the mark, gaining 11 total yards and a first down while helping set up an eventual 2-yard touchdown pass to Nico Collins.
Joe Mixon > 1,000 rushing yards.
(Missed 4 games)
(Missed 5 games)— Will Kunkel (@WillKunkelFOX) January 5, 2025
Mixon is just the sixth Texans player to hit the four-number production in a season, joining Arian Foster, Steve Slaton, Domanick Williams, Lamar Miller and Carlos Hyde. He’s the first tailback to reach 1,000 yards since Hyde broke the plane in 2019 en route to a division title.
The former Cincinnati Bengals star wasn’t the only player to make franchise history. Collins, who needed 32 yards to surpass 1,000 through the air, caught five passes for 38 yards to cross the threshold before the end of the first quarter.
Just to be safe, the Texans left Collins to stay in the game for one more play with Davis Mills at quarterback for a 6-yard gain. After that, Collins joined Stroud and Mixon on the bench.
Perfect end to CJ Stroud and Nico Collins regular season. pic.twitter.com/L6JKF8eVfI
— James Roy (@JamesRoyNFL) January 5, 2025
After posting a career-high 1,297 yards in 2023, Collins finished his fourth year with 1,006 yards in 12 games. He joins Andre Johnson, DeAndre Hopkins and Brandin Cooks as one of four players in Texans history with back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons.
The Texans await the outcome of Sunday’s game between the Chargers and Raiders to know who they’ll play in the wild-card round next week. With a win, Los Angeles would head to Houston as the No. 5 seed.
With a loss, the Pittsburgh Steelers would head to NRG Stadium instead.