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(6:06pm) Is Matt Turk kidding?? Facing no rush whatsoever, Turks shanks one badly - a 10 yard punt. The Raiders, down 14, now get to start their drive at the Texans 31-yard line. A forgettable last two weeks for Turk. --------------------------------------
(5:58pm) Texans defense finally made a stand. They have been making costly mistakes throughout the 2nd half. I hadn't even mentioned Petey Faggins with an awful missed tackle on Jerry Porter that resulted in the Raiders biggest play of the game. But DeMeco Ryans came up with his 2nd interception in 3 plays. Obviously only one of 'em counted. The first was called an incomplete pass, probably correctly, as I believe the ball hit the ground on its way to Lamont Jordan. Ryans grabbed the pick that counted when he dropped back in coverage and plucked the ball out of the air. That's three INT's for the defense and a +2 overall. That almost always equals victory.
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(5:45pm) Credit where credit is due. Great play call on 3rd and 2 from Raiders 42. All the momentum is on the Oakland side, but this was a gutsy call to try to get it back. Rosenfels dropped back, had loads of time since the Raiders were expecting the 4th straight handoff to Dayne, (who had just gone over 100 yards on the day), Davis was in single coverage against UH-ex Stanford Routt. Davis just ran past him and made an outstretched catch and rolled into the endzone to give the Texans much-needed breathing room.
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(5:34pm) The Texans stop the Raiders on back-to-back 3rd down plays, but on both a Texans defensive lineman commits a silly, unnecessary personal foul on Josh McCown. Maddox gets hit for a face mask call, Okoye hits McCown just after he's let the ball go and gets hit with a roughing the passer call. Fargas gets in from a yard out 2 plays later. Texans are doing their best to find a new way to let yet another game slip away.
Again, more self inflicted wounds, mistakes that are completely avoidable and absolute killers.
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(5:00pm) Kubiak told Rich Lord at halftime that Green is not coming back and it'll be Dayne and Echemandu the rest of the way. Nice play and more importanly execution on a 3rd and 1 play. The Texans called the same play they called in week 4 against the Falcons inside the ten yard line - a misdirection pitch to Dayne. Since the Raiders expected a run up the middle, there was only one Raider out wide to break up the play but Ephraim Salaam just mauled him and Dayne rambled for 39 yards. That gave Dayne 71 yards today, 3 shy of a Texans' season high.
UPDATE: Kris Brown's 43 yard field goal is blocked, so the lead stays at 17.
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(4:40pm) Sure the Texans will be happy with a 17-0 halftime lead, but the clock management skills of the coaching staff have got to be questioned yet again. They called their 2nd timeout when Oakland was lining up for a 64 yard field goal. After Janikowski hits the upright on a kick that was not lacking the distance, the Texans get a pair of completions to Kevin Walter and reach the Raiders 20 with 39 seconds left.
They spend their 3rd and final timeout right there! That's a mistake. It was 1st and 10 from the 20 after a short completion and 39 seconds left, you get to the line and spike it. They attempt one more throw into the end zone, before handing it off to Jameel Cook and conceding to kick a field goal. They don't even do that right. On 3rd and 12, Rosenfels spikes it with 10 seconds left, so the Texans are forced to kick off and the Raiders even had time to run another play. Well-coached teams don't have so much trouble with the elementary stuff like that.
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(4:28pm) Von Hutchins makes a great play on the ball and a great diving INT. It goes to the booth for review - as usual my thought is it would be tough to overturn no matter the call on the field. And as usual, I'm wrong and they overturn the call, so the Raiders get in back and decide to go for it on 4th and 9 from the Houston 46. Andre Ware is wondering aloud if Lane Kiffin knows that it's 4th down and then when they bring out the field goal unit if they are aware that he'll be kicking from the Raiders side of the field.
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(4:12pm) Sensational interception by Fred Bennett as he stepped in front of Curry and made a leaping grab of the McCown pass. Bennett had laid a huge hit on Curry earlier in the game which sent both players to the sideline initially. Dayne makes his best (not longest) run of the season when he makes a couple of moves and scores rather easily on a 14 yard jaunt. Texans lead 14-0 with 4:02 'til halftime. They are +1 in the turnover battle.
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(3:55pm) Back to the bad news, Rosenfels makes a poor throw and a poor decision and gets picked off by S Stuart Schweigert. The Texans ran a fake reverse to Andre Davis and Schweigert didn't bite. Rosenfels never looked anywhere else and quite honestly, there might not have been anyone else in a pattern. Had he made a perfect throw to Walter, it might have been a TD, but it was a small opening and a relatively easy pick for the Raiders.
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(3:53pm) Now the good news - Travis Johnson tips Luke McCown's pass and former Raider Danny Clark makes a great diving interception. Again, the trend is reversed. Texans off to a good start and the force a turnover.
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(3:51pm) Now the bad news - Dunta Robinson's season is likely over. An aircast was placed on his right leg and he rode the cart of the field. His leg was caught underneath Ronald Curry and it didn't look good
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(3:40pm) The Texans open on defense and force a three and out. The offense comes out and calls a screen pass on 3rd and 18 and it is executed flawlessly. Ahman Green takes the throw and goes 53 yards down the sideline to the Oakland 14, thanks to huge block by Mike Flanagan.
It looked like the Texans went brain dead after that though, considering Kubiak called for Ron Dayne runs on 1st and 3rd down with a Vonta Leach reception in between. (No, that sequence did not result in a first down). Luckily after a timeout, Kubiak went for it on 4th down and they appeared to be just trying draw the Raiders offside, but Rosenfels followed two big blocks by Flanagan and Chester Pitts for the first down on 4th and 1. Green got the TD run a couple of plays later.
------ WEX
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