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Dolphins pull a Texans
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The first thing I said after Ronnie Brown scored with 1:48 remaining to give the Dolphins a seemingly safe 28-23 lead was "at least they left us some time on the clock."
But that was my football brain talking and I quickly remembered that it was the Texans who would have to drive 76 yards in a minute and a half with two time outs, and score a touchdown to win the game.
Forgive my jaded pessimism but I'm usually not making that bet.
But first, let's rewind this movie a few frames, to a point before the Brown TD.
What I expected to happen when the Dolphins were at their own 49 with 2:06 left was a 'give it to Ricky' and 'give it to Ronnie' 'grind it out' kind of drive deep into Texans territory, eating up the Texans time outs, resulting in the Dolphins kicking a field goal to win the game 24-23.
I know my team and I was fairly confident that would happen. Apparently so did others who were filing out of the stadium en masse to beat the traffic or sit in traffic or go back out to the parking lot and drink or whatever it is they do.
But on the play just before the two minute warning, Chad Pennington found Brown for 39 yards which at the time didn't look anything like the blessing in disguise it turned out to be. The Dolphins scored quickly. Too quickly. And the Texans had the ball with 1:45 remaining and little more than a snowball's chance in the sunny side of Reliant Stadium of pulling this thing out.
But it was a chance.
The game winning drive started out in a bad way with Matt Schaub being sacked (his one and only time) by Joey Porter. But then a little magic happened. Stuff that usually doesn't happen to the Texans.
First there was a nice 20 yard toss from Schaub to Andre Davis to get the Texans out of trouble. Then there was the reversed interception on 3rd and 10. As disgruntled fans filed up the stairs I kept telling them it hit the ground but they wouldn't listen. All I heard were words like "joke" and "hopeless."
Then there was the first of two sudden death plays - a remarkable 23 yard catch by Andre Johnson on 4th and 10 that put the Texans at the Dolphins 41 with 0:52 remaining. Two plays later, Schaub rolled right and found Kevin Walter on a clutch 30 yard hookup to the Dolphins 11.
Fans started coming back down the aisles. No joke.
Four plays later Schaub made up for some of his earlier sloppy play by scoring the game winner on the second sudden death play - a 4th and 3 keeper that whipped the remaining 30,000 of us into a guarded-frenzy. I even vaguely recall hugging some dude. But I promise it was a man hug and not one of these.
It would have been a full frenzy but there was 0:03 on the clock and yes this was the Texans. Full frenzy would have to wait for a few minutes later.
It was refreshing to hear a raucous stariwell with chants of "Houston Texans" as we enjoyed our first happy walk to the parking lot since last December.
On second thought, frenzy isn't the right word. I think it's more like relief.
Extras:
- Matt Schaub started the game in the worst way possible throwing two picks and being way off target on others. His performance brought out the boo birds and calls of "we want Sage." Think about this for a minute. You want the guy who fumbled twice and threw a pick on his last three drives against Indy? We are desperate aren't we. The fact is that neither QB is very consistent and both are prone to mistakes so I really don't see a controversy. Just be glad we have two semi-ok QBs and keep in mind that Schaub overcame the boos and threw for 379 yards while leading his team to a come from behind victory in the end - despite his and his team's four turnovers.
- Despite their lofty defenssive rank, the Texans gashed the Dolphins for huge plays all day. Steve Slaton had runs for 15 and 22. Schaub hooked up with Walter for 30 twice and 28 another time. Schaub also hit Andre Johnson for 20, 23, and 61, Owen Daniels for 30 and Andre Davis for 20.
- Kris Brown was perfect again with three field goals. I smell a Pro Bowl.
- At the 10 minute mark in the second quarter the Dolphins had 153 total yards with only two first downs
- The Texans only had one penalty for the second week in a row.
- The Texans offensive line and backfield blockers protected very well, giving up only one sack.
- The Texans defense held the Dolphins to only 2 of 10 on 3rd down conversions and forced 7 punts. Getting off the field has been an Achilles heel of this team but they did better in that department today.
- Mario Williams continues to be the only d-lineman to register any sacks but Tim Bulman had two hurries that made an impact.
- Texans owner Bob McNair, his son Cal, and GM Rick Smith spent a lot more time on the sideline today than in past games.
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