Houston 27, Jacksonville 7. Those are really the only numbers that count at the end of the day, but if you were to glance at the box score you would see that the final score accurately reflects Houston’s utter statistical dominance of the visiting Jacksonville Jaquars with the Texans playing their best all-around game of Gary Kubiak‘s coaching tenure.
The most promising breakthrough for the Texans on Sunday was the emergence of an actual running game. Rookie Wali Lundy ran for 93 yards and one TD, averaging 4.9 per carry – far surpassing any previous effort by the Texans as of date – and most likely securing him a start next week against the Titans.
This opened up the passing game with another solid showing from David Carr, throwing two TD passes with nary a turnover (Jacksonville had two) while Andre Johnson continued his stellar season with eight catches for 106 yards and a TD. Houston controlled the time of possession by seven minutes keeping the defense off the field and fresh.
The return of Demarcus Faggins was some much-needed help for a secondary that has had its share of problems, including having to release talented but grossly underachieving Phillip Buchanon last week. Mario Williams racked-up another sack (we won’t mention that Byron Letfwich fell down on the play) and also recovered a fumble. Another Texans milestone of note: This is the first time in their existence that they have won back-to-back home games. Wow.
This article appears in October 20 • 2006.