The Texans had 36 rushing yards with 10:14 left in the game.
When the clock hit zero against the Lions, they had 105 yards on the ground and a 20-13 victory.
"It means a lot," running back Alfred Blue said of the late-game ground outburst. "It shows that the offense can finish a game. It shows that we can get in there as a run unit and go down and run the ball non-stop and not get stopped and wear our defense down."
Blue and the Houston offense got the ball at their own 35-yard line with just over 10 minutes to play, leading 17-10.
He picked up 31 yards on that possession, including a 19-yarder and a 10-yarder. Lamar Miller chipped in with a pair of eight-yard bursts, and the Texans were able to get a Nick Novak 36-yard field goal and a 10-point cushion.
After a Detroit field goal on the next drive made it a one-score game, the Texans responded again on the ground. Miller carried for a pair of six-yard gains, as well as a three-yarder, and Houston salted away the clock.
"I knew if we got one first down, the game could be over," Miller said. "So that gave me that motivation to get that first down, to get another victory."
Miller finished the day with 17 carries for 56 yards and a touchdown. Blue wound up with nine rushes for 41 yards. He gave credit to his blockers up front.
"The linemen, man," Blue said. "They stuck with it. First half, it was kind of tough. The linemen just kept on sticking with it, the coaches stuck with the run and we just started getting on the blocks and making it happen out there."
Head coach Bill O'Brien liked what he saw from the Miller/Blue duo.
"I thought that both those guys ran tough," O'Brien said. "They're both tough, tough individuals and they ran hard. They did a nice job."
Veteran cornerback Johnathan Joseph had a sideline view of the late-game runs by Miller and Blue, and he was enthused by the finish.
"That's what you want to do, and be able to do as a football team," Joseph said. "Line up with two or three minutes left in the game, the other team knows you're going to run the ball, and it's basically man-on-man. Mano y mano. Today we just came out and smashed them in the mouth and ran the ball and finished the game out."
Quarterback Brock Osweiler had the sweetest minus-three yards rushing of all, as he was able to kneel three times in the victory formation to close out the end of the contest. The way Blue, Miller and their blockers performed, impressed him.
"I think Detroit knew we were going to run the ball, and that didn't slow down our guys up front whatsoever," Osweiler said.
The Texans also picked up 11 yards on a pair of carries by Jonathan Grimes.
Check out photos of the game as the Texans took on the Lions at NRG Stadium.
