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(2:50pm) Too bad the Texans have played this game before. Plenty of offense, good enough defense, no huge breakdowns, but too many turnovers. Schaub finds Daniels for a 6-yard score, but it almost certainly comes too little too late. Nick Sorenson makes his second big special teams play by cleanly recovering the onsides kick.
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(2:36pm) Third turnover of the game, Schaub horribly underthrows Andre Johnson and the ball is easily picked off. Schaub was throwing from his own endzone after Antwan Peek sacked Schaub for a 12-yard loss, but he had all day to find a receiver and it was a bad throw. Texans now down two turnovers in the game.
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(2:29pm) Chester Pitts had yet another crucial drive-killing penalty, his holding call behind the play negated a 12-yard run by Dayne. Matt Turk is doing his best Chad Stanley impersonation with nary a single good punt today. Admittedly they are frightened to death by Cribbs, but a 34 yard average with a long of 37 a very bad. Browns start their drive already in Dawson field goal range.
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(2:17pm) Without doing much of anything since early in this game, the Texans have somehow managed to stay in this game. They cannot afford to allow the Browns to find the endzone again and it might be nice to grab another turnover in the final 15 minutes.
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(2:07pm) Wow! A Texans' blitz forces the sack of the game as Mario Williams comes off the left end and brings down Anderson. He forces a fumble on the sack for the 2nd week in a row - also for the second week in a row the Texans don't come up with the ball. Ryans and Clark both came up the middle on a blitz and the Texans force a punt to avoid giving up more points after a turnover.
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(2:03pm) Turnovers may again dictate defeat for the Texans. Owen Daniels continues to widen the gap for himself personally b/w TD receptions and fumbles. That's now 3 fumbles lost and ZERO TD receptions. Kubiak unwisely gambles with a challenge and now drops to 1-for-8 on challenges this year. Browns take over.
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(1:58pm) I'm sure DC Richard Smith is at the game today, but it's hard to tell. The Texans are just laying back on defense and letting the Browns do whatever they want. Cleveland just ran it down the Texans' throats to go up 7 with a short field goal. Bennett makes another nice play to knock a near TD pass away from Joe Jurevicius.
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(1:21pm) Halftime probably comes at a good time, since Anderson is really finding his stroke. A laser beam, splits Ryans and Hutchins for the score to Kellen Winslow. Nine of Anderson's 15 completions have gone to Edwards and Winslow, including both scores. The Texans knew that coming in but have not been able to stop them because the pass rush has been non-existent and they have yet to blitz today.
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(1:15pm) With a minute to go before the half, Browns go for it on 4th down for the 2nd time today, this time though, the quick slant to Edwards on Wynn gets them more than enough. Anderson is now seeing virtually no pressure and they have wisely completely abandoned the run. He hasn't been all that sharp, missing several open receivers but he is getting sharper and more comfortable with every pressure-free play.
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(1:04pm) Too bad Fred Bennett was not healthy during the preseason otherwise he'd probably be all by himself as the team leader in INTs. He picks off Anderson who was looking for Edwards deep, Bennett and returns it 33 yards to the Browns 34, but the offense does nothing and then Kris Brown misses just his 3rd kick of the season. He goes wide right on a 46-yarder that was never close. It was Bennett's 2nd pick of the year, tying him with fellow Gamecock Dunta Robinson with 2.
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(12:58pm) Special teams play a role in the Texans retaking the lead. Phil Dawson inexplicably kicked the ball out-of-bounds, so the Texans only had to go 37 yards to get Kris Brown a 37-yard field goal. The Texans would have had a 4th and goal, but a great throw and catch from Schaub to Daniels was thwarted when Brodney Pool laid a huge hit on Daniels - jarring the ball loose.
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(12:49pm) That's why turnovers are killers. All the momentum was with the Texans until the unfortunate turnover. The Browns had 43 yards of offense in the 1st Qtr, they had 70 on that drive, including plays of 25, 17 and 19 yards. Great protection for Anderson on the drive and on the TD strike to Braylon Edwards. It's all tied up.
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(12:43pm) Schaub gets picked off throwing over the middle to Joel Dreesen. D'Qwell Jackson bumped Dreesen just barely before the ball arrived. The ball bounced up and Jackson came up with the game's first turnover. This upcoming possession is huge for the Texans defense to have an answer and bail out the offense.
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(12:36pm) The defense finally allowed a first down, but on 3rd & 15 they collapsed the pocket around Derek Anderson forcing him to hurry his throw, which missed its mark. Jacoby Jones nearly breaks a long return on the ensuing punt but DB Nick Sorenson shakes a Zac Diles block to make what might have been a TD-saving tackle. Nonetheless the Texans thoroughly dominated the 1st quarter and have brought the defensive momentum they created in the Saints game into this one. The Browns have rushed for just 13 yards on 6 carries.
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(12:28pm) As I mentioned in the first post, the Browns will offer little resistance today. After they force the turnover on downs, Schaub engineers a 6 play, 61-yard touchdown drive without even facing a third down. Kevin Walter is wide open after DB Leigh Bodden falls down and they Texans grab the easy score early. Walter is continuing to prove Kubiak right in his assessment that he should have used him more last year. Walter now has 50 catches for 622 yards and now 2 scores.
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(12:21pm) DeMeco Ryans made two huge tackles on 2nd and 3rd down to force the Browns to go for it on 4th and 1 from the Texans 39. They give the ball to FB (Houstonian) Lawrence Vickers (Forest Brook) and he goes nowhere. The Texans D-line is getting a great push early and Travis Johnson is right in the middle of it, off to a great start.
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(12:17pm) Texans showed how scared of return man Josh Cribbs they are. After Andre Davis couldn't shake a tackle to get a first down on 3rd and 5, Matt Turk weakly boots a 28-yard punt. Sure there was no return but now the Browns start their drive at the Texans 48-yard line. Last week the only Saints touchdown came when they had a short field on a 43-yard TD drive. Special teams will definitely play a huge role today.
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(12:08pm) Kubiak correctly calls for the Texans to go for it on 4th and 2 on their opening possesion from the Browns 35, but Schaub is forced to throw quickly and he overshoots an open Owen Daniels. The call was risky, but it got exactly the match-up they wanted, the throw just wasn't there. As expected, though, the Browns don't look they'll provide much resistance today.
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Here we go with hopefully the first of 6 weeks of meaningful football. My thoughts throughout the game will fill this blog throughout the day.
----------WEX
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