Read More: Arian Foster (RB – HOU), Houston Texans, Carolina Panthers

The Houston Texans saw their seven game winning streak come to an end at the hands of a 28-13 loss to the Carolina Panthers. Carolina started fast building a 21-0 lead by halftime and cruised home to a 28-13 win. 

Turnovers plagued the Texans who turned it over on their first possession and gave the Panthers a jump start. Arian Foster ended up rushing for over 100 yards but his fumble set up Carolina’s first score. Rookie quarterback T.J. Yates was intercepted twice in the game. 

Yates finished 19 of 30 for 212 yards and no touchdowns. Foster finished with 109 yards and a fourth quarter touchdown that temporarily pulled the Texans to within 21-13. Foster also led the Texans in receiving with five catches for 58 yards. 

Cam Newton didn’t have his usual big yardage numbers but did throw for two touchdowns. Deangelo Williams’ 24 yard touchdown run in the fourth provided the Panthers with the final margin of victory. Williams finished with 61 yards on 15 carries. Steve Smith scored the game’s first touchdown and finished with five catches for 82 yards. 

Houston will travel to Indianapolis in Week 16 to take on the Colts and will wrap up the regular season at home on New Years Day against Tennessee. 

For more on this game, check out SB Nation’s Houston Texans Blog Battle Red Blog and the Carolina Panthers Blog Cat Scratch Reader.

Read More: Andre Johnson (WR – HOU), Arian Foster (RB – HOU), Ben Tate (RB – HOU), T.J. Yates (QB – HOU), Atlanta Falcons, Houston Texans

No Andre Johnson? No problem for the Houston Texans offense.

After their star WR was forced out of the game with a hamstring injury, the Texans marched down the field with a 19-play 85-yard drive that took 10:41 off the clock.

Rookie QB T.J. Yates completed only one pass on the drive, which put Houston up 17-10 on the Atlanta Falcons.

The drive was almost over before it began, when the Falcons returned a Yates interception for a TD, only to have it overturned by a defensive holding call in the secondary, the second Atlanta defensive touchdown that’s been called back today.

Over six minutes later, Houston converted a 4rth-and-1 in the red-zone with an off-tackle run by Arian Foster.

Coming into the game, Atlanta had the second-rated rush defense in the NFL, giving up only 83.5 yards a game on the ground. But they’ve had no answer for Foster and Ben Tate, who have already combined for 148 yards.

Rick Smith, Delhomme’s agent, said in a phone interview Tuesday that his client has been staying in shape and raising racehorses in Louisiana since he was cut by Cleveland in July.

“He relishes that role, and he’s looking forward to contributing to the team,” Smith said in a phone interview. “He keeps himself in shape, he’s been throwing a bunch.”

The Texans are dangerously thin at the position in the wake of season-ending injuries to Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart.

Houston signed Kellen Clemens last week after learning that Schaub will need season-ending surgery on his right foot. Leinart broke his left collarbone in Sunday’s 20-13 win over Jacksonville.

Yates replaced Leinart late in the first half, and went 8 for 15 for 70 yards in his first NFL action. Coach Gary Kubiak confirmed Monday that Leinart was out for the year and said Yates would start against the Falcons.

Smith didn’t know if Delhomme would be No. 2 or No. 3 on the depth chart this week. But Smith said Delhomme would only consider playing for a handful of teams if he ever came back, and Houston was one of them.

“Gary runs a very quarterback-friendly system,” said Smith, who also represents former Texans quarterback Sage Rosenfels. “It’s a great offensive system, and quarterbacks, they love it.”

Delhomme guided Carolina to the Super Bowl after the 2003 season — played at Reliant Stadium. He completed 16 of 33 passes for 323 yards and three touchdowns in the Panthers’ 32-29 loss to Tom Brady and New England.

Houston plays the Panthers at Reliant on Dec. 18.

Cleveland signed Delhomme to a two-year contract in March 2010, but he sprained his right ankle in the opener, lost his starting job to rookie Colt McCoy and played in only five games. He threw only two touchdown passes with seven interceptions that season.

But the Texans could hardly afford to be picky.

With Yates thrust into a starting role, Houston will have to lean on its top-ranked defense and No. 3 rushing attack to navigate through the final five games and earn the franchise’s first playoff berth.

Despite losing a key player seemingly every week, the Texans are having their best season. They’ve won five in a row and hold a two-game lead over Tennessee in the AFC South.

“They’ve got a lot of people telling them they can’t do something,” Kubiak said of his team Monday. “Believe me, they believe they can. It’s been about the team all year long and it will continue to be that way. It’s just another obstacle. We’ll rally and get ready to go this week.”

The Texans rank second in pass defense (175.8 yards per game) and fourth against the run (92.5 yards per game). They have 35 sacks, second in the league to Baltimore, and they’re plus-11 in turnover ratio.

Arian Foster and Ben Tate were bottled up against Jacksonville, but both still rank among the league’s top 16 rushers.

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