Texans Down Bucs, Face Broncos on National TV

Sage Rosenfels excelled for Houston in Sunday's 28-14 victory over Tampa Bay completing 27 of 36 passes for 209 yards and three TDs with no interceptions. I always knew he was better than David Carr but now some of the fickle fans in Houston might be thinking quarterback controversy. However, with the Texans depleted offensive line they'll be glad to start whoever isn't in the I.C.U. Houston currently has a league-leading 17 players out for the season, including Ahman Green who may never play for Houston again. And really, who cares. The dude is old.

Mario Williams has also been instilling fear in opposing quarterbacks of late racking up 5.5 sacks in his last four outings. Taking him as the first overall pick isn't looking quite as bad these days. With Green out for the year the Texans brought up undrafted running back Darius Walker out of Notre Dame from the practice squad who made his NFL debut on Sunday. Walker picked up 46 yards on the ground and 35 receiving and generally had a decent debut. At least as far as I could tell listening to the game on the radio having picked up the faint signal from San Marcos' 1420 AM. I tell you, there's no Central Texas love for the Texans, and it's a shame.

André Davis ran the opening kickoff of the second half back 97 yards for a TD and the Texans first third-quarter points since week two. I guess a special-teams TD counts. It's still six points.

The Texans had excellent third-down efficiency (10-17) and managed to keep the turnovers even (two each). A nice showing against a team who could have clinched their division with a win and came in with an 8-4 record on a four-game winning streak.

Now, for the bad news: the Texans are actually 1.5-point favorites this Thursday at home versus the Broncos. They never play well when favored and have a hard time stringing wins together. But playing at home with both teams coming off a short week they do have the home-cooking advantage and have played well at Reliant all year (4-2).

The game, the first weekday one in the Texans franchise history, will be aired nationally on the NFL Network. Don't expect the hubbub surrounding the Cowboys/Packers game two weeks ago because football fans here in Austin have made it clear they could care less about the Texans. Too bad because Houston has been playing some solid and, yes, inconsistent ball of late and are certainly as enjoyable to watch as the Titans. And they also have the added cache of being from this state.