Sometimes, the quality of a play can outweigh the quantity of reps. One catch could essentially factor more in a game's outcome than a dozen catches that move the sticks.
Brevin Jordan knows the feeling. The third-year tight end for the Houston Texans made one catch in Saturday's 45-14 wild-card round win over the Cleveland Browns, but it also served as the turning point for the offense entering the second quarter.
On first-and-10, C.J. Stroud evaded the sacked up the middle and moved to his outside. Jordan initially set up a block before releasing out to the flats as a check-down option.
Stroud had nowhere to turn and wanted to make sure Houston had a chance to run another play. Jordan turned upfield and picked up the first down.
Then Xavier Hutchinson delivered a block and opened a crease. After that, it was a footrace to the end zone for a 76-yard touchdown.
Houston retook the three-point lead and never gave it back. Stroud was in his element and the Texans' defense was about ready to explode.
But Jordan, who scored the longest touchdown of the season and the longest play in the franchise's postseason history, kickstarted the shift. Without the score, who knows if Houston would have gained the momentum to pitch a shutout the rest of the way?
"It was right on time," running back Devin Singletary told TexansDaily. "It turned up everybody. We didn't look back after that."
Jordan, who's served as the Texans' No. 2 tight end behind Dalton Schultz, didn't turn back either. Initially, he said he felt someone on his hip and after he made the cut he "got his knees up" to get the extra boost.
The jolt did not more than push Jordan into the end zone. According to NFL's NextGenStats, Jordan's top speed peaked at 20.3 MPH, the third-fastest time by a ball-carrying tight end this season.
“If you go on YouTube, I was a running back growing up my whole life,” Jordan said postgame. “I really moved to receiver my freshman year of high school. I was a running back my whole life. So I feel like that’s one of those things I really carry with me as a tight end. I like to say I’m a different type of guy. I’m smaller, so I like to be fast and stuff.”
The scoring drive marked the longest play of Jordan's career, previously set at 27 yards in both 2021 and 2023. It also marked the longest touchdown for the 6-5 tight end since his 76-yard score against North Carolina while as a member of Miami in 2020.
"To see the catch and the run after the catch, he turned the wheels on. He turned them on, and he took off," said Texans coach DeMeco Ryans. "I think everyone was running right down the sideline with him. Brevin has done an awesome job. No play bigger in his career than that play today.”
As Jordan returned to the sidelines, he immediately called for the oxygen tank, a first since his rookie season. Looking back, he chuckled at the moment, knowing he now has unfinished business with a member of the Texans' staff.
"Thank you to the oxygen lady," a jovial Jordan said. "I’ve got to take her to dinner because after that, she saved my life. I was dying after that.”
Houston now awaits the results of the Buffalo-Pittsburgh game to determine their next matchup in the division round.
With a Bills win, the Texans would travel to Baltimore for the first time since Week 1 to face the top-seeded Ravens.
With a Steelers win, Houston heads to Arrowhead Stadium to face the three-seeded Kansas City Chiefs. The Texans faced Kansas City in their last postseason run in 2019, falling 51-31 after jumping out to a 24-0 lead in the first quarter.
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