Andre Johnson has had some great games in his career.
This one topped them all.
Johnson had a career-high and franchise-record 14 catches for 273 receiving yards against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Reliant Stadium on Sunday. He won the game with a 48-yard touchdown catch-and-run in overtime. He had the ninth-most receiving yards in a game in NFL history and the most since Terrell Owens' 283 for the San Francisco 49ers in 2000.
"I just told him I've been doing this a long time, and I've been around some great players, and that was the greatest day by a wide receiver I've ever been around," said Texans coach Gary Kubiak, who coached Jerry Rice and Rod Smith earlier in his 19-year NFL career. "What a huge day. I don't know if that one will ever be touched; that was special from the Texans' standpoint."
Johnson's previous career-high – and the Texans' previous franchise record – was 207 receiving yards, set against the Tennessee Titans in 2008. He topped 200 yards for the second time in his career, 150 yards for the eighth time and 100 yards for the 41st time.
The five-time Pro Bowler is now 130 yards away from his sixth-career 1,000-yard season. He ranks 32nd all-time with 10,526 receiving yards. Johnson recorded his 15th-career 10-catch, 100-yard game on Sunday, tying Jerry Rice and Wes Welker for the NFL record.
Six of Johnson's 14 catches on Sunday went for at least 20 yards – gains of 20, 22, 23, 35, 45 and 48. He had three catches for 73 yards on the first three plays of the game, seven catches for 132 yards by halftime and 12 catches for 214 yards at the end of regulation.
"You can't say enough about that guy," Texans tight end Owen Daniels said. "I've seen so many big games from Andre since I've been here. I haven't seen him play like this in a long time; it's pretty impressive. For him to finish it off right there at the end was unreal."
Johnson, 31 and in his 10th season, has said for the last month or so that he feels fresher physically after shaking off rust from missing extensive practice time in the offseason.
"I've been telling you guys I've been feeling better and better every week," Johnson said. "Maybe you guys will believe me after that. I have a lot of credit to give to our training staff, just everybody who has been working with me through the process of all the injuries and things I've gone through just making sure I'm in there doing what I need to do to be able to perform on Sunday."
Johnson said this probably ranked as his favorite regular-season game of his career, trailing only the Texans' inaugural playoff victory in 2011 in terms of his favorite games overall.
Quarterback Matt Schaub, who threw for a franchise-record 527 yards on Sunday, said he told Johnson after the game that he loved him.
"I love the way he plays," Schaub said. "I know he's always going to protect me and protect the throws and just give me a chance to look good. That was what he did today.
"It definitely was special… It was as good as I've seen him look in a long while. That's just Andre. That's how he's always been."
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