By Kristie Rieken
AP Sports Writer
HOUSTON Rookie Mac Jones threw a touchdown pass to tie it in the fourth quarter and Nick Folk’s 21-yard field goal with 15 seconds left lifted the New England Patriots to a 25-22 win over the Houston Texans on Sunday.
The game was tied at 22 before New England (2-3) used a 15-play, 85-yard drive capped by Folk’s fourth field goal of the game to take the lead. The drive was kept alive when Maliek Collins was flagged for roughing the passer on third-and-18 early in the possession.
Houston rookie Davis Mills threw an incompletion after Folk’s field goal before Brandin Cooks fumbled after a catch to seal New England’s victory.
Jones tied it when he connected with Hunter Henry on a 13-yard touchdown with about nine minutes remaining.
Jones threw for 231 yards with a touchdown and an interception as the Patriots ended a two-game skid.
Mills threw for a career-high 312 yards with three touchdowns to bounce back from last week’s terrible performance where he tied a franchise record with four interceptions.
But he was unable to move the ball late as the Texans (1-4) lost their fourth straight after beating Jacksonville in the opener.
New England coach Bill Belichick continued his success against rookie quarterbacks, improving to 23-6 in those games.
Mills threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Chris Conley on a flea flicker early in the third to extend Houston’s lead to 22-9.
The Texans made an embarrassing mistake later in the third when Cameron Johnston’s punt bounced off the back of teammate Terrence Brooks for zero yards, giving the Patriots the ball at the Houston 36. New England took advantage of the mistake when Folk made a 52-yard field goal that cut the lead to 22-12.
Folk added a 32-yard field goal later in the third to get the Patriots within 22-15 and the Texans missed a 56-yard field-goal attempt early in the fourth quarter.
Mills looked good early as the Texans capped an 18-play drive that took 10 minutes with an 11-yard TD pass from Mills to Antony Auclair. Ka’imi Fairbairn, who made his debut last week after opening the season on injured reserve, missed his first extra point attempt of the season to leave Houston up 6-0.
Damien Harris took a direct snap in the wildcat formation and ran 1 yard for a touchdown for New England early in the first and Nick Folk missed the PAT to tie it at 6-6.
The Texans regained the lead when Chris Moore, who was promoted from the practice squad Saturday, made a leaping catch to grab a short pass and dash for a 67-yard TD. Fairbairn missed again to leave Houston up 12-6.
It is the second time in franchise history that the Texans have missed two extra points in a game and the first since Fairbairn also missed two in a 27-20 loss to the Falcons on Oct. 6, 2019.
The Patriots had a chance to tie it after that, but Harris fumbled near the goal line, and the Texans recovered it.
The teams exchanged field goals after that, to leave the Texans up 15-9 at halftime.
INJURIES
Houston left tackle Laremy Tunsil left the game in the third quarter with a hand injury. … Harris had to be helped off the field in the fourth quarter with a rib injury.
UP NEXT
Patriots: Host Dallas next Sunday.
Texans: Visit Indianapolis next Sunday.
