December 14, 2008
Let's Engage the Hyperbole, Shall We?
by Keith Weiland
Keith@IntheBullseye.com

The Texans will be home watching the playoffs in January, so going overboard with the rhetoric on the importance of Sunday's 13-12 win over the Titans should be cautioned.

Aw, screw that. This was too much fun. Beating the one-loss Titans, a team that had won its last seven against the Texans, was the best win in franchise history. Maybe. At least one of the top three, right?

Mind you, it was far from the prettiest win, but this is a bottomline business. A win against a 12-1 team on the verge of securing homefield throughout the playoffs - and against a rival that has simply bullied the Texans for all but one season in its existence - has to be among the most satisfying and most important in team history.

It almost went the other way though. The Titans were plucking right along with their 'death by Bironas' gameplan, that is, right up until the game's most critical moment. Which brings us to the...

Key Play

In a one-point game, there are more than a handful of plays that could be considered key, and this game was no exception. But this one was critical.

Down 13-12, and with all 12 points scored by kicker Rob Bironas, the Titans had the ball at the Texan 32-yard line on fourth down and two minutes left in the game.

Seems automatic for Titans head coach Jeff Fisher to bring in Bironas for the 49-yard field goal attempt and the lead, right? I guess not.

Fisher instead cowered to the winds swirling in the north endzone (what? really??) and sent his offense back onto the field. He asked his quarterback, Kerry Collins, to throw deep to Justin McCareins into man coverage. McCareins might have been able to make a play on the ball - he had Jacques "Never Turn Back" Reeves covering him - but the ball sailed overhead incomplete.

Fisher must have hoped his defense and three timeouts would give his team the ball back with a little time left on the clock, but thanks to Texans running back Steve Slaton, that never happened. Slaton busted a 34-yard run on first down and later a 12-yard run to ice the game.

It was a curious call by Fisher to eschew the field goal. Nonetheless, the turnover on downs was the game's key play.

Game Balls

Wide receiver Andre Johnson had perhaps the best game of his best season ever. Johnson often found himself in single coverage, and he used the defensive gameplanning miscue to abuse the Titans defense for 207 yards and a touchdown on 11 receptions. The catches were both of the common and uncommon variety, and many of them came against the Titans' best corner, Cortland Finnegan.

Credit belongs to Slaton as well. It wasn't a statistically impressive game, 24 carries for 100 yards, but it came against one of the league's best run defenses. The Titans had only allowed one 100-yard rusher before this game, and that count remains at one since it was Slaton who had done it to them before.

Defensively, the Texans kept the Titans out of the endzone all afternoon. Tackle Amobi Okoye made a huge stop in the fourth quarter on third-and-1, stuffing running back LenDale White for a two-yard loss and forcing a fourth down. Solid play also came from the rest of the defensive line as well, as they contained the explosive "smash and dash" combo of White and Chris Johnson, holding them to just 91 yards combined.

Key Stat

2/13 - 15%

Yes, the Texans won the turnover battle, but it was winning the battle on third downs once again that defined this game defensively for the Texans. In getting the Titans off the field, the Texans kept giving the ball to their offense, possessing the football for more than 36 minutes of the game.

So let's not hold back on the hyperbole here, this team has suffered much and days like this should be celebrated. Wins on Monday Night Football and in frigid temps on Lambeau Field are nice, but beating a 12-1 Titans team at their own game - possession and defense - legitimizes this 2008 Texans team like none before it.

PermaLink or

© Copyright 2008 ...In the Bullseye is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by the actual Houston Texans franchise. It's a non-commercial website for the enjoyment of football fans and is not intended for any other purpose. For legitimate content on the team, its operations and its actions, please visit its official site.