Those Texans free agents on offense paid off big in the season opener.

Joe Mixon rushed for 159 yards and a touchdown and Stefon Diggs caught two touchdowns to lead Houston to a 29-27 victory over the Colts. It was the Texans’ ninth consecutive divisional victory on the road.

In a game of big plays, the biggest one undoubtedly came from Nico Collins, showing why the Texans rewarded him with a three-year, $72.75 million contract in the offseason. On third-and-11 at the Houston 29 with two minutes left, Collins somehow caught a 12-yard pass from C.J. Stroud that he likely never saw.

Rookie cornerback Jaylon Jones got a finger on the pass, but Collins still caught it on the sideline and got a knee-down inbounds. That discouraged the Colts and the crowd, and three Mixon runs later, Stroud took two knee-downs. Collins caught six passes for 117 yards while Stroud completed 24 of 32 passes for 234 yards and two touchdowns.

In his first game with Houston, Mixon had the third-most rushing yards of his career and his most since 2021 when he had 161 rushing yards for the Bengals against the Steelers. Mixon had just one 100-yard game for Cincinnati last season, rushing for 111 in Week 17.

Diggs had six receptions for 33 yards, with touchdowns of 9 and 2. His final touchdown came on fourth down to give the Texans a 29-20 lead with 4:42 remaining.

But Anthony Richardson kept making big plays to bring the Colts back. He completed just 9 of 19 passes, but for 212 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He also ran for a fourth-down touchdown and had 56 rushing yards on six carries.

Alec Pierce had three catches for 125 yards, including a 60-yard touchdown.