I must confess. I had already begun writing my post game article when Washington went up 27-10 in the third quarter. Even when it got to 27-17, I continued to write about how the Shanahan's were outcoaching Kubiak and Frank Bush. I continued to write about how Mario Williams and the Houston pass rush decided to mail it in. I continued to write about how Donovan McNabb was shredding the young Houston secondary worse than documents in the end days of Enron.
You get the idea.
Yes, I was being that kind of fan. I stopped believing in my team. But go back and read the game threads...I wasn't the only one. And when Bernard Pollard blocked a field goal that might have put the game out of reach and gave Houston a glimmer of hope, I decided to stop writing and see if our boys were all growered up.
It was a pretty good decision. More after the jump...
So, I kicked back and continued to work on my bottle of Jameson's Irish Whiskey (an adjustment from beer in the first half...and almost empty by now) as the game got more and more interesting. All of a sudden, Mario Williams couldn't be stopped. Matt Schaub made some Fantasy owners have to change their underwear more than once, and Andre Johnson returned from an ankle injury and made the catch of the day in probably all of the NFL.
With the defense starting to play well and the Texans beginning to be able to move the ball, before I knew it, the game was tied on a ridiculous 34 yard jump ball from Schaub to Johnson on a 4th down with just over two minutes left to play. By this point I was yelling and probably making some strange sounds in excitement that made the dog retreat towards the back of the house. Yeah, a combo of shots of whiskey and Houston Texans football will do that to you.
Then, the defenses struggled back and forth until the game eventually led to sudden death overtime, a situation in which the Texans have never won. They were 0-6 in opportunities leading up to today. In a rare turn of events, Houston won the toss (on a tails call, how about that?) and began to move the ball down the field before stalling around the Washington 39. But Neil Rackers wasn't putting his helmet on...Matt Turk was. Twitter EXPLODED at this point. Let me sum it up for you:
Kubiak sucks, should be fired, tarred and feathered and then die. And not necessarily in that order. But with Rackers already missing a 47 yarder in this game, it wasn't necessarily the wrong call. It was a call I don't know if I would have made. But the drama really kicked in when Kubiak's mentor Mike Shanahan was faced with the exact same scenario on his end of the field. The difference was that Mike had confidence in his kicker, who made the 52 yard attempt. Same old Texans, right? I was ready to completely down the final third of Jameson's I had left. Until I heard all the whistles.
Gary Kubiak had called a timeout right before the play to "ice" the kicker. Oh, come on, Kubes...that NEVER works! You're only delaying the inevitable! He just made it! He'll make it again...Oh, SHIT!
I don't think I have EVER seen the old Icing the kicker thing work. So Kubiak goes from goat to...lucky?
Matt Schaub wouldn't let another opportunity with the ball go to waste. He led the team down the field for 41 yards to set up Neil Rackers for a 35 yard game winning field goal to cap off the best comeback, and maybe biggest win, in the history of the franchise.
Elation ensues.
This is the part where you come in. I would write more, but the whiskey might be winning and the spell check corrections is going to take forever. But, I want to tip my hat to our boys. They showed today that they are mentally tough and absolutely have a stellar resolve. They didn't quit even when most wouldn't have blamed them for it. In the past, they would have taken their ball and headed home with their tails between their legs and started prepping for Dallas.
Not this year. I won't lie that I'm not concerned about how awful the defense looked through the first three quarters, but a win is a win. And I'll take it. Real quick, game balls go to Mario (3 sacks), Kevin Walter (11 rec., 144 yards and 1 TD), Andre Johnson (12 rec., 158 yards and 1 TD) and of course, Teh Schaub (497 yards, 3 TD). Schaub was an absolute field general out here. And when you read Donovan McNabb's line, it's sick to think that Schaub out played him. Unbelievable win and an instant classic. I wonder what game will be on NFL Replay this week.
Just a quick note to end...how great of a day is it when the Titans lose, VY is benched in favor of Vodka Collins, and the Cowboys will be coming to Reliant next week at 0-2 to face the 2-0 Houston Texans? If the Colts lose tonight, the football Gods may truly have forgiven us for our past transgressions.