September 28, 2008
Plus One in the Moral Victory Column
by Keith Weiland
Keith@IntheBullseye.com

Despite a legitimate effort from the offense, the Texans fell to the Jaguars 30-27 in overtime on the road. The offense, led by quarterback Matt Schaub, thrice came back from a deficit, but the defense was unable to contain opposing quarterback David Garrard on a number of late scrambles and designed runs to hold on for the win.

While the Texans remain oh-for-2008, I guess you could say this game was something of a moral victory for a team that was out-played and out-coached in nearly every aspect of their first two games. But this is the NFL, where morality stands for bubkis when it comes to wins and losses.

Still, it was nice to see Schaub regain his poise, tossing three touchdowns and no interceptions. Receiver Kevin Walter (8 catches, 76 yards, and 2 scores) and tight end Owen Daniels (7 catches, 87 yards) made positive contributions, and running back Steve Slaton maybe didn’t find a lot of room to run (10 carries, 33 yards), but he was on the receiving end of another long touchdown, this time a 30-yard throw to give the team a lead in the second quarter.

But the effort went for naught. The Jaguars surprised the Texans on their first drive, calling a direct snap to Montell Owens on fourth down, catching the Texans in punt return formation and somehow unwilling to call timeout. And while the defense may have put eight players in the box to stuff the Jaguars’ rushing attack all afternoon, they failed to keep an eye on Garrard as he rushed for two key first downs and a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

The Texans offense valiantly set up Kris Brown for a game-tying field goal with a second remaining in regulation, but losing the coin toss and playing too soft on defense again spelled doom for the good guys in overtime.

Key Play

Pick any of Garrard’s scrambles during the Jaguars’ final drive in the fourth quarter as a key play of the game. Down 24-20 and needing only to keep Jacksonville out of the endzone, the Texans employed a bend-but-please-don’t-break defense that forgot about Garrard’s ability to run with the football.

With third-and-10 on the Houston 48, Garrard scrambled 13 yards for the first down. Then on fourth-and-8 from the Houston 18, Garrard again made the play with his feet, scrambling up the middle 9 yards for the first down at the two-minute warning.

You’d think the defense would have figured out by now what was going on, but sadly, no. Two more runs by Garrard put the Jaguars into the endzone, giving them a 27-24 lead with 1:53 remaining.

In overtime, it was two passes from Garrard that moved the Jaguars into field goal range, but had the Texans defense adjusted their scheme to account for Garrard’s rushing ability, there would have never been an overtime.

Game Balls

Many fans (well, except me) were well beyond the point of wanting to see backup quarterback Sage Rosenfels run the offense, but head coach Gary Kubiak reasserted his confidence in Schaub this week and was rewarded with a gutsy effort by his starter. Schaub posted some pretty stats (72.5% complete, 307 yards, 3 TD passes, 0 INTs, and 0 sacks), but it was his ability lead the team downfield into field goal range as time was expiring that will be remembered most.

Key Stat

2/2, 100%

I could have just as easily posted Garrard’s rushing stats as being the key, but this game also changed on the Jaguars’ ability to convert two key fourth downs. The first came early in the game when the Texans gave up a 41-yard touchdown run on a play they weren’t ready to defend, and the second came late as Garrard kept his team’s chances of winning alive with a 9-yard run for a first down inside the Texans’ 10-yard line. Had the Texans been able to stop either of those plays from converting, the game’s outcome might have looked very, very different.

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