Alas, this is the final installment of the Mini Coupe Power Play, and again, we are struck with a bit of a conundrum.  There is no single defining play that won this game for the Texans.

I mean, the game was pretty much over after the Texans won the coin toss, but that would be a horrible play to break down ("The Texans win the toss... jump... aaaaand, done").

We could use one of the variety of incredible runs by our two headed beast of a running back, such as Ben Tate's touchdown on the opening drive, Arian Foster's 19 yard touchdown scramble, or the veritable buffet of 10+ yard rushes in the second half.

In the end, however, when Matt Schaub has a touchdown run for the second straight game that was designed and run to absolute perfection, it has to be the choice.

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Sometimes our reliance on technology is a curse.  Not an evil "cost you your first born" type of curse, but more of a "damn, that kind of ruined my afternoon" curse. 

I spent the past week in Boston for work and then stayed through the weekend for a friend's wedding.  I flew back home on Sunday.  Had this exact scenario occurred five or ten years ago, I would have scheduled an early flight on Sunday to ensure that I was back in time to watch the game (hangover be damned).  Now, though, I figured I could just set my DVR and actually get in a few hours of recovery sleep before traveling.

Well, the damn thing didn't work. 

After getting home from the airport, I walked into my house, said hello to my family and immediately glanced at the DVR.  To my horror, the record light was not on.  It was the scariest Halloween ever (technically Halloween eve, but I was still shuddering about it a day later).

Fortunately, the game was still going on and I was able to catch the game from the end of the third quarter on.  In this time, I managed to see two excellent candidates for the Mini Coupe Power Play of the week. 

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In the third week of the Mini Coupe Power Play series, we finally get to select a play that actually helped the team win.

And there are no shortages of candidates.  The big interception by Danieal Manning on a broken leg is one option, as are Brice McCain's pick six, Joel Dreessen's TD catch and a myriad of other plays.

I really wanted to select Neil Rackers' fourth quarter leveling of Mariani (because it was awesome, that's why), but if we're looking for the one play that really powered the Texans to victory, it has to be Arian Foster's 78-yard touchdown reception.

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It was exceedingly difficult to select the Mini Coupe Power Play this week.  Part of that stemmed from the fact that there wasn't any single play that you could point to and say, "That was the play that cost us the game!"  Mainly, though, it was the simple notion that looking back at the game was akin to reliving a hangover without enjoying the drink. 

I thought about going with the beautiful touchdown pass from Matt Schaub to Jacoby Jones, but selecting a positive Texans play from this past game feels like cheating.  It's like bragging to your friends that you won at the blackjack tables in Vegas, but leaving out the thousands you lost at the craps table or the disease you caught from the female professionals.

So for this week's Mini Coupe Power Play, I selected the play that finally broke my will. 

Throughout the afternoon, even as my frustration and anger mounted, I continued to hold out hope.  I can't explain it either.  When this play happened, though, what I was hoping would be a celebratory beer faded into a consolatory beer.

The play in question?  Ray Rice's 27-yard run late in the fourth quarter that set up Ricky Williams' touchdown. 

Wait, the Texans gave up a touchdown to Ricky effing Williams?!!

Sigh...  jump...

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Here's a new weekly segment sponsored by the super cool looking Mini Coupe.  The goal here is to highlight one play in the game that was powerful and to highlight the player who was the catalyst for the play.

This brings us to one of the great philosophical questions of our time:  Does the play have to be a positive one for the Texans?  To me, the answer is no, and since I'm the one writing this, that makes it unanimous.  As such, the obvious "victor" for this week's play should be the final one.

Seeing as Run MDC has already done a terrific breakdown of this play, however, I will instead deviate from my previous statement, and break down the preceding play where Matt Schaub and Joel Dreessen connect on a brilliant 34 yard connection setting the stage for the dramatic (though wholly disappointing) finale.

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