The 8-3 Houston Texans went into their game at Reliant Stadium against the 7-4 Atlanta Falcons Sunday in front of 71,545 fans in a very unusual position, LEADING the AFC South by two full games over the Tennessee Titans. Houston also came in the contest tied for the best record in the AFC with the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens.

The way Wade Phillips has revived the Texans defense, Houston fans would have felt pretty good going in the matchup except for one thing—starting quarterback Matt Schaub went down with a season-ending foot injury that required surgery two weeks ago, and backup Matt Leinart went down with a season-ending broken collar bone last week. That mean the quarterbacking duties fell squarely on the shoulders of third-string rookie quarterback T.J. Yates.

Texans Coach Gary Kubiak assured the media and fans in the days before the game that Yates knew the offense and was up to the challenge he faced. Just in case there were problems, or in the event of an injury to Yates, the team brought in eleven year veteran NFL quarterback Jake Delhomme to serve as the backup. They also had six year NFL veteran Kellen Clemens for insurance.

Atlanta won the coin toss and immediately went three-and-out. Yates led the Houston offense out, but they were unable to pick up a first down on their first possession, and the Falcons took back over on offense at their 24 after a Brett Hartmann punt.

Houston got the ball back almost immediately when Kareem Jackson intercepted Matt Ryan. Yates drove his team down the field and the Texans appeared to be headed for a score. The Falcon defense stiffened, and facing a third down, Yates was hit as he threw the ball downfield. The Falcons picked up the ball and returned it into the end zone, but after a lengthy discussion the officials mistakenly ruled that Yates fumbled the ball, but that a Falcons player had stepped onto the field from the sidelines, and the ball was dead at that spot. Kubiak threw the challenge flag, but apparently the officials were blind and upheld the ruling on the field, and Atlanta went back on offense.

Shortly after the Falcons began their next drive Jason Allen picked off Ryan and Houston was back in business. Thanks to a false start on fourth-and-one, Neil Rackers came in to attempt a 43-yard field goal. The kick was good, and with 4:03 left in the opening period, Houston took a 3-0 lead.

Atlanta was unable to sustain a drive on their next possession and punted the ball away to Houston. Yates led the offense back on the field at the Houston 17. The possession was a three-and-out, and Atlanta took back over on their 29. The Texans defense held and forced an Atlanta punt.

Yates drove his team down the field, hitting Andre Johnson on a deep post pattern down to the 4. Two plays later he hit Joel Dreessen for a touchdown, and after Rackers nailed the PAT, Houston was on top 10-0.

Atlanta came back and moved down the field 79 yards before stalling out at the Houston 1. Matt Bryant kicked a field goal pulling his team back to within a touchdown at 10-3. The Texans began their next drive at their 20 and went into the two minute offense. They made it to midfield, but ran out of steam and punted back to Atlanta and Ryan and company took back over.

The teams exchanged punts, and Houston got one more shot with just under a minute left till halftime. They weren’t able to get a drive going and the half ended.

Houston got the ball to begin the second half of play. They went three-and-out , but Atlanta couldn’t get a drive going on the ensuing possession either. Houston got the ball back and moved down the field, but stalled out and Rackers came out to attempt a 54-yard field goal. The kick fell 2 yards short, and Atlanta took over on their 44.

The decision to try the field goal turned out to be a killer, as Ryan led the Falcons down the field, hitting Roddy White from the four, capping a 56-yard, 7-play drive that took 2:38, and tying the game at 10 with just less than two minutes left in the third quarter.

Houston got the ball back and began an impressive drive. Yates was moving the team down the field, when tragedy suddenly struck. While running a deep route, Pro Bowl receiver Andre Johnson suddenly pulled up gimpy on his left leg. A hush fell over the stadium as Johnson fell to the turf. It was obvious that he had re-aggravated a left leg hamstring injury that required surgery and sidelined him for six games.

Shortly after that Yates was intercepted for a pick six, but fortunately former Texan Dunta Robinson was called for defensive holding, negating the score and giving the Texans new life and a fresh set of downs. They took full advantage of the opportunity, moving 85 yards in 19 plays in 10:41, scoring on a 1-yard Arian Foster touchdown with 6:05 left in the game. After Rackers added the PAT, Houston regained the lead, 17-10.

Atlanta had one last play into the end zone on the final play of the game with a chance to get the tying touchdown, but the pass from Matt Ryan went off the hands of the intended receiver, preserving the 17-10 victory. With the win, Houston remains tied for the BEST record in the AFC with a 9-3 mark and a 2-game lead over the Tennessee Titans in the AFC South with 4 games left in the season. The 9 wins ties the most wins in a season. In 2009, the team went 9-7.

The victory moves Houston closer to clinching their first playoff win in team history. Needless to say, it was an ecstatic team owner Bob McNair after the game. “It’s wonderful and I’m so happy for the city because our fans have waited for so long for a team they can really be proud of. If they’re not proud of this team they’re not going to be proud of any team because they are absolutely astounding. The way they have performed and overcome adversity is a lesson in life for all of us. We just have to keep playing the way we’ve been playing. We’re a heck of a ball club at this point. Our defense has just been magnificent and then when our defense eased up on the third quarter and they scored a touchdown our offense got geared up and we started running the ball. It’s that combination, if you have a strong defense, you can run the ball and you can keep the other team from running it too much you’re going to have a lot of success and that’s what we are doing.”

The win was the sixth in a row. The Texans will be in Ohio on Sunday to take on the Bengals as they try to get to double-digit wins for the season. At least there’s one NFL team in Texas that looks like a winner!

CBSSports.com wire reports
Oct. 30, 2011

HOUSTON — The Texans are learning how to win, even when their high-powered offense has an off day.

Arian Foster rushed for 112 yards and a touchdown, and Houston shut down rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert and the NFL’s worst offense in a 24-14 win over the Jaguars on Sunday.

Matt Schaub threw a touchdown pass and ran for another score for Houston (5-3), off to its best eight-game start. The Texans also took one more step toward the franchise’s first division title and playoff berth by improving to 3-0 in the AFC South.

“We knew it was going to be a tough, dirty game,” said Houston linebacker Brian Cushing, who led his team with seven tackles. “In this league, it’s tough to get a win. We just had to do what we had to do.”

The Texans have outscored their division opponents by a total score of 99-28. This was the closest of the three games, mostly due to two Houston fumbles that led to Jacksonville touchdowns.

Schaub completed 16 of 30 passes and was sacked twice, and the Texans once again missed star receiver Andre Johnson, who sat out for the fourth straight game with a hamstring injury.

Unlike past seasons, Houston can rely on its defense to pick up the slack.

The Texans stayed in control by holding Jacksonville to 61 yards and five first downs in the second half. Gabbert, making his sixth career start, completed 10 of 30 passes for 97 yards and two interceptions in the game, for an anemic 26.7 rating.

“We had a defense that stood up and said, ‘We’re gonna win the game,’” Houston coach Gary Kubiak said. “They were excellent all day, exceptional.”

The Jaguars (2-6) couldn’t carry over momentum from their surprising 12-7 win over Baltimore on Monday night. Maurice Jones-Drew was limited to 63 yards on 18 carries, and said the entire offense bears some of the blame for Gabbert’s struggles.

“We have to continue to give him time in the pocket. We have to catch the ball when he throws it,” Jones-Drew said. “The quarterback is only as good as the players around him. So obviously, if he’s not doing well, we’re not doing well.”

The Texans got off to another fast start, scoring on their opening series for the fifth time. Schaub went 4 for 5 and then sprinted for a 2-yard touchdown with 8:21 left in the first quarter.

Jacksonville’s sixth-ranked defense held Baltimore to 34 yards rushing Monday night, but Houston matched that total on its first three possessions.

Gabbert was hurt on Jacksonville’s first series. Forced to scramble, he slid awkwardly at the end of an 11-yard run and was hit by safety Glover Quin and Cushing.

Trainers helped Gabbert off the field with bruised ribs, and Luke McCown replaced him. Gabbert returned on Jacksonville’s next possession, then threw five straight incompletions.

The Texans’ offense bogged down, too, failing to convert three consecutive third downs.

“We wanted to get everyone involved,” Schaub said. “We had some opportunities down the field, and I missed a few of the throws. I’ve got to make those plays for us to be successful as an offense.”

A slick play by Jacksonville’s defense midway through the second quarter created the Jaguars’ best scoring chance of the game.

Clint Session sacked Schaub and forced a fumble, triggering an impromptu double-lateral. Defensive end Matt Roth scooped it up, then flipped the ball backward to defensive tackle Terrance Knighton. Knighton chugged 7 yards, then pitched to Session who reached the Texans 10 before Foster tackled him.

Two snaps later, Gabbert threw a short TD pass to Jason Hill, Jacksonville’s first touchdown since the third quarter of a 17-13 loss to Pittsburgh two weeks ago.

The Jaguars were lucky to be tied at halftime after producing 113 yards in the half.

“We are working our butts off,” Jacksonville coach Jack Del Rio said, “and I’d sure like to have a little more validation for the type of effort that’s being put forth.”

Jacoby Jones returned a punt to the Jaguars 44 early in the third quarter, and Schaub threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Joel Dreessen.

Jason Allen intercepted Gabbert’s pass to Mike Sims-Walker on the first play of the fourth quarter, and the Texans stretched the lead on Foster’s 4-yard touchdown run.

Jones-Drew scored on a drive set up by Ben Tate’s fumble. The Texans used nearly the rest of the time to set up Neil Rackers’ 39-yard field goal.

Notes

• Foster has 12 100-yard rushing games, a franchise record.
• Texans LB Darryl Sharpton is out for the season after tearing a tendon in his right leg.
• Jaguars PK Josh Scobee had his streak of 15 games with a field goal snapped.
• Jacksonville is 5-9 in the week after playing a Monday night game.

The Houston Texans continue to get discouraging news about wide receiver Andre Johnson(notes). The team announced that Johnson will not play on October 30 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. This will be the fourth game in a row that Johnson misses because of his hamstring injury. The loss of Johnson takes a serious threat away from the Houston passing game. That could be bad against a team that has a pretty good passing defense. With the recent setback, it looks like Johnson might not be able to return to the field until after Houston has its bye week.

Johnson injured his hamstring on October 2 when Houston defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers. The wide receiver did undergo a small operation shortly after suffering the injury. Ever since the injury, it has been a weekly issue about Johnson’s status. There was real optimism that he would play in this game. Typically, hamstring injuries can range anywhere from a week to a couple of months to heal depending on the severity. While Johnson’s injury isn’t anywhere near that severe, it is clearly taking longer than the Texans initially thought. The good news is that he continues to rehab and won’t have to worry about aggravating his injury against the Jaguars.

Houston still has another two games before the off week. The Texans will face the Cleveland Browns at home before they have their bye. After that they visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Ideally, the Texans would love to get Johnson back on the field for at least a little bit of work before that bye week. If they won’t, it will mean he has missed six games this season. By his own account, Johnson is about 70% healthy. The team won’t put him on the field until he is 100 percent healthy. That will make the next week critical for Johnson’s return. If he is able to start practicing without pain, he might play against the Browns. But if Johnson can’t go next week, the team is likely to keep him out the following week and wait for the bye.

Johnson is one of the biggest receiving threats in the NFL. Houston has been up and down in the games he has missed. They are coming off a huge win against the Tennessee Titans in large part because of the running game. They will have to rely on that again against Jacksonville. For now, Houston fans just have to wait and see about Johnson’s recovery. They should be optimistic that at least things are progressing, even if it is slower than they hoped.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

Coach Gary Kubiak knows his first-place Houston Texans have a long way to go
before they can start thinking about their first AFC South title.

A few more stellar performances against divisional foes would get the Texans
closer to that point, though they’ll have to once again make do without Andre
Johnson(notes) on Sunday against the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars.

After dropping three of four, Houston (4-3) got back on track with a 41-7
rout at Tennessee last Sunday.

Matt Schaub(notes) had a career-best 147.7 passer rating in that game while
completing 18 of 23 passes for 296 yards and two touchdowns. Running backs Arian
Foster(notes) and Ben Tate(notes) each topped 100 yards rushing as their team finished with a
season-high 222 after failing to crack 100 in each of its previous two games.

Foster added 119 yards receiving and matched a career high with three total
TDs in helping the Texans overtake the Titans for the division lead.

“I don’t really look at (leading the AFC South) too much. We’ve got so far
to go,” Kubiak said. “Obviously, we feel good coming out of (last weekend). We
played very well. We’ve got another division game coming up right here, but I
think we better just stay focused on what we’re doing week to week right now.”

Houston has outscored divisional opponents 75-14 in two games, and it didn’t
have Foster and Johnson on the field together for either. Johnson, who has
missed three straight games with a hamstring, will sit out again Sunday after
the Texans were initially optimistic he’d play when he returned to practice
earlier in the week.

Johnson says he isn’t able to run full speed and is probably about 70 to 75
percent recovered.

Houston is hoping to get fullback James Casey(notes) back from a strained chest
muscle, but safety Danieal Manning(notes) will miss at least four weeks after breaking
his left leg in last week’s win.

Johnson had 146 yards and a touchdown on nine receptions during a 31-24 loss
to the Jaguars on Nov. 14 but sat out last season’s second matchup with a
nagging ankle injury that later required surgery. With Johnson out, Foster
rushed for 180 yards to secure the league’s rushing title and lead his team to a
34-17 season-ending victory, which snapped a series-high three-game skid against
Jacksonville.

This time, the Texans will face a Jaguars team that just ended its longest
losing streak in eight years. Jacksonville (2-5) snapped a five-game skid by
holding Baltimore to 146 yards during a 12-7 victory Monday night.

Josh Scobee(notes) converted all four field goal attempts – three from more than 50
yards.

The Jaguars ranked 28th in yards allowed and 27th in points allowed per game
in 2010, but they’re in the top 10 in both categories this season.

“We need to win some more and the next opportunity we have to do that is go
down and play a divisional opponent in the Houston Texans, who are sitting on
top right now,” coach Jack Del Rio said. “Getting our energy back and going down
there and playing well on the road and getting a victory, that’s what it’s all
about right now.

“The division right now, you don’t have Indy that’s sitting there at 7-0 or
8-0 running away with things. There is definitely an opportunity for everybody
involved to put some wins together and have a shot.”

The Jaguars haven’t dropped back-to-back games against the Texans since
2006, but they’re 2-6 in their past eight trips to Reliant Stadium.

With rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert(notes) still getting comfortable in the NFL,
the Jaguars might lean on running back Maurice Jones-Drew(notes), the league’s
second-leading rusher with 677 yards.

Jones-Drew fumbled three times on Monday night – losing one – but he has 295
rushing yards, five touchdowns and no fumbles in his last three games against
Houston.

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