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BUFFALO BILLS (3-6) at HOUSTON TEXANS (3-6)

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2006 – 1:00 PM ET

RELIANT STADIUM, HOUSTON TEXAS

 

CBS: Don Criqui, Steve Beuerlein

 

DIRECTV NFL Sunday Ticket: Channel 707 (no HD)

 

RADIO: Buffalo Bills Radio Network

PLAY-BY-PLAY: John Murphy

COLOR ANALYST: Mark Kelso

SIDELINE REPORTER: Paul Peck

 

Houston Texans Radio Network

PLAY-BY-PLAY: Marc Vandermeer

COLOR ANALYST: Andre Ware

SIDELINE REPORTER: John Granato

 

Sirius Sunday Drive: Channel 152 (Buffalo feed) / Channel 186 (Houston feed)

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REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Bills lead, 2-1, and are 1-0 in Reliant Stadium.

 

PLAYOFF RECORD: none

 

LAST MEETING: September 11, 2005 – Bills 22, Texans 7

preview

J. P. Losman’s first NFL start, in front of a sellout Kickoff Weekend crowd at Ralph Wilson Stadium, was a qualified success. While the Bills only managed one touchdown – a Losman-to-Jason Peters one-yard pass that gave Buffalo a 19-7 lead just before halftime – Losman managed a total of six scoring drives without turning the ball over. J.P. was helped by a solid 22-carry, 117-yard performance from Willis McGahee, and Rian Lindell nailed all five of his FG attempts, four from outside forty yards.

 

The Bills defense was the big story of the day, though, stuffing the running game and harassing David Carr into a horrid 9-21-70 yard, five-sack, four-turnover (three INTs/one fumble) afternoon. With Andre Johnson blanketed all day and nobody else he could trust to catch the ball – one memorable pass bounced off the nameplate on the back of Jabar Gaffney’s jersey, when Gaffney missed a hot-read – Carr ended up either throwing into double-coverage, scrambling, or getting sacked.

 

LAST TIME IN HOUSTON: October 13, 2002 – Bills 31, Texans 24

Down 17-3 at one point in the first half, the Bills used two fourth-quarter Drew Bledsoe touchdown passes to take the lead, then withstood a last-minute Texans drive to come away with a hard-fought victory. Travis Henry turned in one of the best rushing days of his career with 159 yards and two touchdowns, but his fumble early in the fourth quarter handed the Texans the ball at the Buffalo eight-yard line; a halfback option pass from James Allen to Billy Miller two plays later gave Houston a short-lived 24-17 lead. They couldn’t stop Bledsoe, though, as the Bills sandwiched two touchdown drives (the first one aided by two unsportsmanlike-conduct penalties on former Bill Jay Foreman) around a Texans three-and-out to take the lead for good with 4:02 left in the game.

 

Houston had one last chance to score; after a Chris Watson interception was negated by a roughing-the-passer call on Chidi Ahanotu, the Texans managed to drive to the Buffalo 12 before turning the ball over on downs. Three Bledsoe kneeldowns ran the final 0:26 off the clock, and the Bills escaped Reliant Stadium with a tougher-than-expected win to even their record at 3-3.

 

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TEXANS OVERVIEW (2006 RANKINGS)

OFFENSE (#23 total yardage, #28 rushing, #19 passing, #t28 scoring):

You have to feel some sympathy for David Carr: after the Texans made him the #1 overall pick in their inaugural season, his main claim to fame has been setting sack records behind some truly bad offensive lines. Consider this: Houston’s current #20 ranking in sacks per pass play is their best rating since joining the league in 2002. Given the pounding he’s absorbed – including a league-record 76 sacks in his rookie season – Carr has been amazingly durable, only missing four starts in his four-and-a-half-year career. He was knocked out of the Jaguars game with a bruised shoulder and is listed as questionable, but I'd be surprised if he doesn't suit up on Sunday. (Sage Rosenfels is in Houston now, so he'd get the call if Carr isn't ready.)

 

Carr spent most of last season trying to force the ball to 2004 Pro Bowl WR Andre Johnson, mostly because there weren’t any other decent options available downfield. Old friend Eric Moulds may have been ready to move on from Buffalo, but he instantly became the best #2 receiver the Texans have ever had; the proof shows in Johnson’s league-leading numbers, now that he’s not being automatically double-teamed on just about every play. There’s still not much depth behind #3 wideout Kevin Walter, though.

Fourth-round pick Owen Daniels (Wisconsin) vaulted past veterans Jeb Putzier and Mark Bruener to start at TE; he’s got the speed and pass-catching ability to create matchup problems downfield, and leads the team with five touchdown receptions.

 

There's been a complete turnover in the RB corps: two-time thousand-yard rusher Domanick Davis is sitting out the year while trying to recover from knee surgery, and not one of the backs currently on the roster was in Houston last season. Sixth-round pick Wali Lundy (Virginia) seems to have locked up the starting job for now, with Samkon Gado (trade-Packers) and Ron Dayne (FA-Broncos) available for backup/short-yardage duty. When the Texans needed to convert a crucial fourth-and-inches against Jacksonville last week, they chose Gado over the smaller Lundy. FB Jameel Cook (FA-Buccaneers) won’t get many carries, but is a decent check-down option out of the backfield.

 

Seems like the Texans have been cursed with bad luck on the offensive line ever since they selected All-Pro tackle Tony Boselli with the first pick in the expansion draft; Boselli never played a down in Steel Blue before retiring with shoulder problems, and Houston has been looking for a left tackle ever since. They thought they’d finally found one when 2006 third-round pick Charles Spencer (Pitt) won the job in preseason, only to see Spencer break a leg in the second game of the season. To make matters worse, RT Zach Wiegert joined Spencer on I.R. earlier this week after tearing an ACL against the Jaguars last Sunday. Journeyman Ephraim Salaam gets the start on the left side, while third-rounder Eric Winston (Miami/FL), moving into Wiegert’s spot, will make the first start of his NFL career against the Bills.

 

New offensive line/assistant head coach Mike Sherman – yeah, that Mike Sherman – probably had some say in bringing former Packers center Mike Flanagan to Houston. Left guard Chester Pitts has started every game in franchise history, including more than one stint at LT. Steve McKinney and Fred Weary have split time at RG; Weary’s status for this game is uncertain following his arrest during a traffic stop on Tuesday afternoon, but he’ll probably play.

(Pulled over for a lane-change violation, a missing front license plate, and ‘acting suspiciously’, Weary ended up being Tasered during the arrest and spending several hours at the police station. Read into that what you will, but I’m not going there until we hear more details regarding the incident.)

 

 

DEFENSE (#27 total yardage, #26 rushing, #20 passing, #22 scoring):

One of the first moves new head coach Gary Kubiak made upon arrival was to scrap Dom Capers’ beloved 3-4 defense for a traditional 4-3 set. But with 2005 first-rounder Travis Johnson joining fellow DT Seth Payne on I.R., DE Antwan Peek scheduled to miss a couple of weeks with a sprained MCL, and #1 overall pick Mario Williams playing through a painful case of plantar fasciitis, the Texans are scrambling to fill holes on the defensive line. Former Redskin DT Cedric Killings was signed on Tuesday; he joins a rotation that includes Lional Dalton and former practice-squadder Anthony Maddox. DEs Anthony Weaver and N.D. Kalu can also shift inside if necessary. (In fact, Weaver started several games at tackle earlier in the season, with Jason Babin filling in at left end.)

 

Houston was roundly mocked by the ‘experts’ for not using that #1 pick on Reggie Bush, but anyone who spent much time watching the team’s poor excuse for a pass rush – Jeff Posey’s eight sack-season in 2002 remains the franchise record – understood the emphasis on improving a defense that ranked near the bottom of the league last season. Williams got off to a slow start at RDE, but is starting to show signs of his massive potential; his team-leading 4.5 sacks include takedowns in three consecutive games.

 

Fellow rookie DeMeco Ryans has made an immediate impact from his MLB spot; he’s a playmaker who leads the Texans in both tackles and QB pressures, and a popular early choice for team defensive MVP. Last year’s starter at MLB, Morlon Greenwood, shifted to the weak side to make room for Ryans. Shantee Orr starts at SLB, and veteran Kailee Wong was recently activated from the PUP list.

 

Dunta Robinson became an instant starter at the beginning of his rookie season, and it looks like that’s not about to change any time soon. Lee Evans can expect to see plenty of Robinson’s #23 across the line of scrimmage on Sunday. On the other side, Lewis Sanders started the first few games while Demarcus Faggins recovered from a foot injury. Faggins is back, but now Sanders is on I.R. with a broken hand; Dexter McCleon is the most likely candidate to fill the nickel role, and the team signed former Colts DB Von Hutchins to fill Sanders’ roster spot.

 

Glenn Earl is a stereotypical hard-hitting strong safety who’ll play this week despite a dislocated finger; he had two of the team’s league-low seven interceptions in 2005. C.C. Brown has more of a SS skillset, but showed enough to beat out veteran Marcus Coleman for the free safety job last season. Jason Simmons and Guss Scott fill out the depth chart.

 

 

SPECIAL TEAMS:

After missing two field goal attempts (including a 32-yarder) against Jacksonville, kicker Kris Brown is rumored to be on a short leash; Todd France, who kicked for the Eagles and Bucs last season, was brought in for a tryout on Tuesday. Brown is 11-15 for the season, 7-9 from inside 40 yards, with three of his misses in the last four games.

Punter Chad Stanley could also be on his way out: his gross average ranks dead last in the league, although he’s not bad at keeping his kicks out of the end zone. If this game evolves into a field-position battle, Buffalo has a definite advantage thanks to Brian Moorman, who leads the league in net punting average.

 

Pro Bowl KR Jerome Mathis has yet to see the field this season following offseason surgery for a broken ankle. The Texans have tried several options to replace him; the latest is Dexter Wynn, signed shortly after he was released by the Eagles on Halloween. He’s adequate on kickoffs and is averaging a respectable 10.2 yards per punt return, but he’s no Mathis. The kickoff-coverage team is average, but the punt-cover team ranks fifth in the league despite giving up a 53-yard touchdown return to Pac-Man Jones two weeks ago.

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OUTLOOK:

This game features two 3-6 teams both battling injuries and inconsistency. The Texans have shown signs of improvement as of late, although losing Wiegert and Johnson has to hurt. The Bills should have some success running the ball, but with yet another shakeup on the line due to Chris Villarrial’s season-ending ankle injury, that’s no guarantee. With no clear-cut mismatch on either side, Houston’s home-field advantage may well end up deciding the outcome.

 

See y'all in Houston, and Go Bills!

 

Links:

NFL.com: injury report / Texans depth chart / Texans team stats / Bills depth chart / Bills team stats

Official team website: HoustonTexans.com

Unofficial (but good) team website, including the Post Patterns message boards: HoustonProFootball.com

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