Moral Victories not wanted, but received.

Okay, let's face it. We weren't up to match up against the Colts. We had 2 of our key players out to injury, and 4 more got hurt along the way. The most dangerous and scariest injury was that of Cedric Killings. While trying to make a block, a helmet to helmet collision caused him to break invertibrae. He was mostly motionless for a few minutes, only holding his right hand up at the very start of the scare. He first complained he couldn't feel "down there", but later he showed he could move all extremities. He should be able to walk out of Methodist Hospital later this week, thank God. Jacoby Jones, rookie sensation out of Lane college, was hurt on a dazzling punt return that would have easily been converted into points if Schaub had not thrown such an ill-advised ball into triple coverage. With Ron Dayne out and with the loss of Ahman Green on the 2nd series, Samkon Gado and Jameel Cook were left with the running duties. When it became apparent the running game wouldn't be successful, we turned to the air. Schaub had 2 interceptions today, the first was a tipped ball turned pick. The 2nd, however, was one of the worst balls I've seen thrown in the past few years. He attempted to force a throw, but one of the 3 people covering came up with the pick. The second to last drive was the most impressive, but was too time consuming to have a realistic chance at a comeback. Matt Schaub ended the game with 14 consecutive completions, a touchdown and 236 yards. He also had two interceptions. Just to show you how bad our running attack was yesterday, our leading rusher was Jameel Cook, with 15 yards.

Our defense showed they could keep up a top 2 offense, dispite allowing a season high 30 points. Our run defense remained stout. Indy only had 92 yards rushing on 29 carries, with Addai only running for 72 of those yards. Our pass defense was a different story. Though Manning only had 273 yards passing (that's low for him...), and only 1 touchdown, our defensive backs were picked on all day. Mainly the matchup between Faggins vs. Whoever he was matched up against. He gave the Colts receivers 15 yard cushions all game, and they continued to pick on him all game. We would hold the Colts to 3rd down, but Faggins' cussions gave them a first down every time. At one point the Colts were 6-6 on 3rd down conversions. That's ridiculous. Our pass defense needs to be fixed fast.

Still the game was remarkably close. The Texans were down 27-10 one moment, the next they were down 24-30. This was all without Andre Johnson, Ahman Green, Ron "Colt Killer" Dayne, and many others. Jacoby Jones and Steve McKinney were hurt later in the game. What I like about this team is that we never give up. And even though moral victories are not welcome in the the Texans' lockeroom, you can't help but give them a pat on the back. They showed heart. Speaking of heart, can you imagine how loud it was in Reliant? From inside the stadium, you could tell it was loud with everyone in the stands yelling, but on the television (saw the game on NFL Replay) it's one of the loudest I've heard a stadium in a very long time. Hopefully we can keep it up as fans.

Next up, the Atlanta Falcons. Matt Schaub's homecoming.