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(2:17pm) Rosenfels throws his 3rd TD pass of the game, going to Owen Daniels over the middle in the back of the endzone to make it a 28-14 game, That's Sage's 9th 4th quarter TD pass, tying Tony Romo for the league's best total. Turnovers are still a big issue for him with 2 fumbles, but he's completed 75% of his throws today for 3 scores and has the Texans out to a 2 TD lead. TEXANS 28-14
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(2:09pm) Texans get lucky again. McCown not ready for the 3rd down shotgun snap and the fumble is scooped up by CC Brown, giving Houston a re-do from the 17-yard line. The 3rd quarter runs out with the Texans trying to come close to putting the game away. By the way, Houston snaps their 11 week 3rd quarter touchdown drought on the Davis kickoff return for TD.
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(1:59pm) Sage was looking very good this afternoon, despite the O-line obstacles, they keep the chains moving on 3rd down twice. Rosenfels made an outstanding throw across his body to Owen Daniels. On 3rd and 3 from the 18, following a timeout, Rosenfels tries to make a play around 3 Bucs and he fumbles the ball keeping the Texans from making a 2-score game. That was a very poor decision by Rosenfels. By the way, White credited with his 3rd sack and 2nd forced fumble.
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(1:49pm) The O-line takes another hit, Chester Pitts who stayed in the game in the first half, despite a noticeable limp has to be helped off the field early in the second half. The re-shuffling of the line now has Rashad Butler at right tackle and Winston moves to right guard to take Pitts' spot. Studdard could be seen wincing on the sideline with what appears to be a shoulder injury.
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(1:45pm) Slow start to the 2nd half - just kidding, maybe for me, sorry for me it's lunchtime. Andre Davis returned the opening kick 97 yards for the score, tiptoeing the sidelines. For some reason though the Texans kick short and the Bucs score on 4 plays. including 2 huge Graham runs to cut the lead back to 7. 3rd Q, TEXANS 21-14
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(1:18pm) Any chance of the Texans putting more points on the board before the end of the half are killed by Salaam's poor play. Even with a chip block from Walker before he peeled off for a screen pass, Salaam can't keep White from his second sack of the afternoon. White entered the game with 5.5 sacks and 18 tackles. In the first half alone, he has 4 tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble which led to the only Bucs points. Too bad Jordan Black is so bad he can't even make the acitve roster and Rashad Butler has yet to line up at tackle all season. Left tackle is the #1 concern for the Texans this offseason - no question about it. HALFTIME 14-7 Texans
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(1:12pm) The special teams are turning in another poor performance. Jacoby Jones fields a very returnable kick, but he takes it backwards and loses yards. Matt Turk then punts from the Texans 17 and kicks it 31 yards out-of-bounds, putting the Bucs on the Texans side of the field with less that two minutes to go before the half. Defense again steps up, the front four combine on a sack of McCown, N.D. Kalu gets the last hand on McCown for the sack. They blitz on 3rd and 6 and force the punt. For the first time all year the Texans are playing aggressively on defense and no surprise - it is working.
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(1:00pm) The Texans go five wides from the Bucs 8-yard line, with Walker split out wide. Rosenfels goes over the middle to Kevin Walter on a linebacker for the 2nd TD toss of the day for Rosenfels. That is how it's done. They scored the TD on 3 plays following the turnover and now the Texans have forced 22 giveaways and amassed 56 points on them. The Bucs are a very average football team and they are slightly below that with Garcia out. The Texans are the better team on the field today and have no business not winning this game. 14-7 TEXANS
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(12:55pm) Turnover battle is even. On 3rd and 7, the Texans blitz for at least the 4th time today and that leads to a quick throw from McCown to Ike Hilliard. Hilliard makes a sweet move to elude Fred Bennett to pick up the first down. But Demps hits Hilliard forcing a fumble which Demps recovers putting the Texans in business at the Bucs 23-yard line. Demps definitely hit Hilliard helmet-to-helmet, but the refs don't see it.
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(12:51pm) A couple of updates - Dayne has not returned since limping off with what appeared to be a re-aggravated ankle. And Salaam is still getting beaten by unknown defensive end, Greg White. Just after releasing a pass on the most recent dive, White came crashing into the left leg of Rosenfels and keep in mind, the Texans are one play away from sending QB Shane Boyd out there to run the show. It would be his first NFL snap.
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(12:46pm) No surprise the Texans defense can't stop the Bucs after a turnover. The Texans have now allowed 122 points off their 32 turnovers (16 INT, 16 FUM). The Texans have had at least 1 turnover in every game, and only once not allowed points off a turnover in a game. Almost half of their 270 points surrendered this season have come as a result of turnovers. That's is beyond embarassing and by now it's time to admit this is a reflection of their coaching staff and specifically the head coach. TIED 7-7
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(12:36pm) Did I mention the tackles strong play? No, I didn't because they have not been good - again. Winston with an early false start call, then Ephraim Salaam on back-to-back plays gets beaten on the outside by Greg White. White only bats a pass away on the first one, but the 2nd time through, White knocks the ball from Sage and the Bucs recover at the Houston 25-yard line. Sam old, same old. Can't expect to win, if you don't protect the ball.
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(12:35pm) Dayne limps on the field after the opening play of the 2nd quarter. That brings Darius Walker into the game for the second time today, he gets the carry on his 3rd play and picks up 4 yards right up the middle. The interior lineman have held up pretty well early on and that includes recent practice squad call-up Mike Brisiel.
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(12:25pm) Another Texans' blitz on 2nd and ten, as the Texans bring both Morlon Greenwood and Demps from the right side and they stuff Graham for a loss of one. Eventually it forces the Bucs to punt. The Bucs had returned the kickoff to the Texans side of the field, but they were turned away. As I said during the pregame show, IMO Garcia being out is going to be a huge factor in this game.
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(12:16pm) Sage leads the team down the field going 7-for-9 and the offense follows lead of the defense. They convert 3 third downs on the drive and the O-Line did a very good job of protecting Rosenfels. Despite never being a full-time starter, Rosenfels obviously has sensational pocket presence. The line was far from flawless, but he gets rid of the ball quickly, did not take any unnecessary chances and the Texans take the early lead. While there will be no QB controversy yet, the team has looked very good with Sage at the controls despite the turnovers that have been a big part of both QB's downfall. HOUSTON 7-0
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(12:07pm) - Mario Williams makes a nice stunt inside to grab Ernest Graham shy of the first down on 3rd and 2, then Will Demps on a safety blitz gets Graham for no gain and the Bucs are turned away on 4th down. Defense does their job to open, even though McCown opens 5-for-5 as the Bucs look to utilize the short passing game.
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(12:05pm) - I'll be here all day blogging from inside Reliant Stadium, Bucs have the ball first and Luke McCown gets the start for Jeff Garcia who is Tampa's 3rd QB today with a bad back.
--------- WEX
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