Texans Win. Brown's a Hero. Johnson's a Goat?

The Texans had 6 scoring possessions, Matt Schaub threw for 294 yards, and the defense forced a turnover for the first time in 3 games. Sounds like a convincing victory. Not exactly, it took a 57-yard game winning field goal from Kris Brown in the game's final seconds to finally earn the Texans their 3rd win of the season on their 3rd try after starting 2-0. Did you know that the Texans hold the 6th best record in the AFC (better conference record would give them the edge over 3-2 Baltimore)? This despite sitting in last place in the ultra competitive AFC South. Another sign that this division is the best in football is the record of these 4 teams outside the division. If not for the Texans loss last week to the Falcons it would be perfect.
Indy (3-0)
J'Ville (3-0)
Tenn (2-0)
Houston (3-1)

--- The main problems again stemmed from failing to get touchdowns and instead getting field goals. It was great that Kris Brown was 5-5 and 4 of those 5 were not a result of redzone ineptitude, but their inability to run the ball has really become an enormous issue. We've been inundated with calls and e-mails and text messages imploring the Texans to do something (personnel-wise) with the running game. That time has probably arrived. Ahman Green essentially missed his 3rd straight game and relying on Ron Dayne as a feature back is just not the way to go. Samkon Gado isn't much of a change of pace. While I'm not a huge fan on either free agent Wali Lundy or practice squad RB Darius Walker, it might be time to give them a look-see. It seems fairly obvious that Green will not be fully healthy over the final 11 games, even if he remains active for all of them.
--- Schaub threw deep to Kevin Walter on the game's first play and was well off the mark. That was a trend for nearly the entire game. It was not a matter of playing poorly, as much as it was merely not being very sharp. His lone interception was a perfect example of that. On a pass intended for an open Jeb Putzier, Schaub's pass was high and could only be topped by Putzier before being picked off by Andre Goodman. The ensuing play for the Dolphins created controversy with Travis Johnson - I'll address that below.
For Schaub, though, he came through yet again when his team needed him most. He was nails on the final drive, standing tall while connecting on 4 of 5 passes (not including the spike to stop the clock) to move the ball 58 yards in 48 seconds and set the stage for Brown. It is amazing how calm and cool Schaub has been in these crucial situations considering he only made his 7th career start.

--- Now on to Travis. It was pretty surprising to hear him that upset three hours after the block that sent Trent Green to the hospital with a concussion. On a reverse gone bad after Ted Ginn, Jr mishandled the handoff, Johnson was blocked in the knees by Green. Green's helmet made direct contact with the 300-lb lineman's right knee. Green - who suffered a concussion last year on a vicious hit - was taken by stretcher off the field, obviously indicating the severity of the injury. That did not deter Johnson from making some very angry post-game comments. Basically he said he lost all respect for Green after the block, asserting that it was a dirty, malicious hit. I was standing right there for all of Johnson's comments. The Texans PR staff was already on hand to attempt to reel in Johnson, but he gave about 30 seconds worth of angry comments, before he was shut down. He returned 20 minutes later and addressed the situation again, this time showing contrition for his actions.

“I apologize for going off like that. We d-linemen, when you have someone going at your knees, it’s kind of tough. But at the same time, I shouldn’t have reacted like that. The penalty ended up leading to a score, so really I hurt my team. I shouldn’t have let my anger get to me, so I apologize to coach Kubiak, because I hurt my team. Really, I should have kept my cool. Being in that type of situation, this is a game of controlled violence, and I really I let my anger get the best of me.”

If you notice, Johnson really just apologized for hurting his team - which is fine. Again, I'm a bit surprised that he was still angry enough 3 hours after the hit to say what he said about Green, especially after he saw Green get wheeled off the field, but honestly it sounded like Travis was somewhat amazed that he wasn't the one being wheeled off and was angry that it could have been avoided.
There was no flag thrown on the block, but there was for Johnson's reaction. Johnson - who was flipped completely head-over-heels - got up and marched over to the fallen Green and briefly screamed down at him to voice his displeasure. There were two referees in the immediate vicinity and both witnessed his screaming yet only one tossed the flag. By no means did I think it was nearly as big a deal as many others are making it out to be. I was watching NBC's Sunday Night Football at the half, and as Bob Costas tossed to break, he said Keith Olbermann will be up next with his Worst Man in the NFL. I changed the channel, never thinking for a minute that his choice would be Travis. I think that's a bit much. Travis never said he was glad the guy was hurt or anything like that. There is no incident if Green doesn't go low and essentially put himself in a very vlunerable position. Of course this is getting a lot of run already - in Miami there was this article - be sure to note the very necessary mention of Green's family. Couple of items from the Chronicle here and here. Texanschick has her thoughts here.
Why don't you weigh in with your comments.
--------- WEX

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