Houston Texans

Maryland Football: Nick Novak shines in playoff loss

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 7:56 p.m. ET

Fansided, Chris Bengel/FanSided via Terrapin Station

Nick Novak continues to be a model of consistency for the Houston Texans.

In the Texans’ 34-16 loss to the New England Patriots on Saturday, the former Maryland kicker made all three of his field goal attempts.

Novak’s kicks were good from 46, 33, and 27 yards against the Patriots. His 46-yard came early in the fourth quarter and cut the deficit to just eight points at 24-16.

However, the Patriots added 10 more points courtesy of a Dion Lewis rushing touchdown and a 43-yard field goal from Stephen Gostkowski.

Novak made 35-of-41 field goal attempts during the regular season. His longest was a 53-yard conversion against the Tennessee Titans on Oct. 2.

The former Terrapin only had one game in which he missed multiple attempts. That came against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Nov. 13 when Novak missed two of three kicks.

His lone make was from 51 yards out and he connected on all three of his point-after attempts.

In the postseason, Novak was flawless in Houston’s two games.

Novak made all five of his attempts, including two against the Oakland Raiders. He successfully booted field goals from 50 and 38 yards respectively in a 27-14 Texans victory.

Even in his 10th season in the NFL, Novak still had one of his better years as a professional. The former All-ACC First Team member made 85.4 percent of his kicks.

During his time at Maryland, Novak connected on 74.8 percent (80-of-107) of his field goal attempts. In 2002, he led the ACC in points (125), field goals made (24), field goal percentage (85.7), and extra points made (43).

He spent time with the Arizona Cardinals, Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs, and Washington Redskins before having five successful years with the San Diego Chargers.