RB Reggie Bush and HC Sean Payton

Stuck In Houston
Offense shut out in second half, defense lit up in first half vs. Texans

posted November 18, 2007 - print me!
neworleansprofootball.com
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The Houston Texans took advantage of three Saints turnovers, with two of the turnovers occurring in Texans’ territory, and defeated the Saints, 23-10, in front of the largest crowd (70,780) in team history.

The Saints had taken a 10-7 lead in the second quarter, but the Texans responded with 16 unanswered points, while holding the Saints scoreless from the middle of the second quarter on. The Saints had two brief leads in the first half, but each time the Texans responded and scored touchdowns.

Houston improved to 5-5 on the season, while the Saints fell to 4-6, two games behind division leading Tampa Bay. Saints QB Drew Brees passed for 290 yards on 49 attempts and 33 completions, while Houston QB Matt Schaub had 293 yards on 33 attempts and 21 completions. While the stat sheets showed the game relatively even in most categories, it was the turnover margin that doomed the Saints’ chances of improving their record on the road this season.

“The turnovers really hurt us,” said Saints Head Coach Sean Payton. “We were moving the ball pretty well, but when you turn it over you really damage your chances for success. And that’s exactly what the result was for us.”

"To walk away with today with 10 points is ridiculous," said Brees after the game. "We had two opportunities in the first half to score points and we didn’t. We should have gone into the locker room at halftime with 24 points.”

The first Saints’ turnover occurred in the first quarter and with the Saints trailing 7-3 at the time. RB Reggie Bush was stopped on a carry just shy of the goal-line and the ball appeared to come loose in the pile, which the Texans recovered. The second costly turnover was an interception by CB Von Hutchins at the Texans’ 18 yard-line and with the Saints trailing 7-3. While neither of the Saints’ two first half turnovers resulted in points for the Texans, they kept the Saints off the scoreboard despite two sustained offensive drives.

The Saints had rallied to take a 10-7 lead in the second quarter, but Houston struck with their second touchdown of the day after driving 73 yards in only five plays.

“We know that they have dangerous weapons and they can put a lot of pressure on you with all of the receiving options that are available to them,” said Payton. “They dialed it up there and took the momentum right away from us.”

Brees had connected on a six-yard touchdown pass to Devery Henderson with 4:39 remaining in the second quarter that gave the Saints a 10-7 lead. The touchdown was set up by a Will Smith fumble recovery at the Texans 44-yard line six plays earlier.
Scott Shanle forces a fumble.

Scott Shanle forces a fumble.

The Saints turned a Texans fumble on their first series and converted the favorable field position into a 52-yard field goal to take an early 3-0 lead, but the Texans struck back with a long touchdown pass from Matt Schaub to Andre Johnson that has gave them a 7-3 lead 2:48 into the game.

On the Texans’ opening series, the home team turned the ball over on a third-and-four completion to TE Owen Daniels, who took a big hit from CB Mike McKenzie and LB Scott Shanle ad fumbled the ball, which was recovered by LB Scott Fujita at the Houston 38. Shanle was credited with the forced fumble on the play.

The on-field officials ruled the play a fumble and the Texans challenged the ruling, claiming that Daniels’ knee was down. Following the video review, the call on the field stood and Houston was charged with their first timeout and the Saints began with the favorable field position.

The Saints could only manage four yards on their three plays, but K Olindo Mare got the Saints on the board with a 52-yard field goal, his longest field goal this season.

The Texans then took the kickoff on the ensuing play and tried a reverse that was sniffed out by WR Terrance Copper, who dropped the Texans returner at the Houston 15. The Texans then struck with a 73-yard touchdown strike from Matt Schaub to Andre Johnson.

The Saints then started at their own 31 and Drew Brees completed three straight passes, including completions for 9 and 18 yards to WR Marques Colston. The Saints overcame a holding call on a first down and converted a third-and-20 when Brees found Colston across the middle of the field for a 32-yard gain, which took the ball to the Houston 15. Brees then hit Bush out of the backfield and the elusive second year man made four Texans miss tackles with an array of moves, taking the ball to the Houston 4.
Reggie Bush had a career-high 12 catches in Houston

Reggie Bush had a career-high 12 catches in Houston

Bush then ran for a yard and then picked up two yards on a second down but lost a fumble that was recovered by the Texans at the one yard line. The Saints challenged the ruling on the field but the call stood and the Saints were assessed their first time out of the first half.

The Saints forced a punt after the Texans took the ball to their own 19 yard-line, and the Saints started their third possession of the game at their own 30 with 2:05 left in the first quarter. Brees connected with TE Billy Miller on a neat looking screen play that picked up 14 yards. Two plays later Brees and Bush picked up 9 yards on a short catch and run by FB Mike Karney smashed his way up the middle for a one-yard third down conversion. Two plays later Brees fired a dart over the middle that WR David Patten caught in traffic, giving the Saints another first down at the Houston 33.

The Saints, though, committed their second turnover of the game when a Brees offering skipped off of TE Eric Johnson’s hands on a third down and into the hands of CB Von Hutchins at the Texans’ 26. The Saints’ defense held and forced a Houston punt that sailed into the end zone and the Saints began at their own 20 with 9:58 remaining in the second quarter. The Saints went three and out but P Steve Weatherford hammered a 55-yard punt that forced the Texans to start at their own 24.

The Saints’ defense forced their second turnover of the game when DE Josh Cooper stripped RB Ron Dyane of the ball and an alert Will Smith pounced on the ball at the Texans’ 44.

The Saints then drove 44 yards in six plays, capped off by a six-yard touchdown pass from Brees to WR Devery Henderson in the corner of the end zone and after Mare’s extra point, the Saints led 10-7.

Houston responded with three consecutive long plays, a 26 yard completion to TE Owen Daniels, a 21-yard completion to WR Andre Davis and an 11-yard run by Dayne before Schaub hit TD Joel Dreessen for a 10-yard TD pass that put the Texans ahead 14-10.

The Saints began a late second quarter drive at their own 21 yard-line, but suffered a costly setback when DE Mario Williams sacked Brees and stripped him of the ball, but T Jon Stinchcomb recovered the loose ball at the Saints’ 15. The Saints, though, were forced to punt and the Texans took possession of the ball at their own 39 with 1:19 left and one touchdown.

After an incompletion on first down, Schaub hit Dayne for a 17-yard completion and then hit Daniels for 12 yards before using their last timeout with :39 left. The Texans converted a 3rd-and-10 with a 14-yard completion from Schaub to Daniels that set up a 36-yard Kris Brown field goal with :08 left.

Second Half

The Saints accepted the opening kickoff and quickly picked up nine yards on a completion from Brees to Colston. Bush then picked up four yards on a run up the middle and then Brees drilled a streaking Patten over the middle of the field for 21 yards to the Houston 35. Bush and Brees then picked up 7 yards on a completion, but Marques Colston was then flagged for a pass interference penalty on a second down and the Saints faced the prospect of a second and long. Bush picked up three yards on a rushing play, but a third down pass by Brees was tipped at the line of scrimmage and the Saints elected to go for it for instead of trying a long field goal. Brees’ fourth down pass intended for Colston was defended by two Houston defenders and the pass fell incomplete.

Houston took over at the 35 and picked up 12 yards on two plays, but a Will Smith sack on a first down knocked the Texans back six yards. The Texans, like the Saints, faced a fourth down, albeit the home team’s was a fourth and one from the Saints’ 44, but DE Renaldo Wynn decked Dayne at the line of scrimmage and the Saints took over at their own 44 with 8:45 remaining in the third quarter.

The Saints, though, were unable to capitalize on the favorable field position and punted after three downs and Houston set up shot at their own 23 also exactly halfway through the third quarter. The Texans picked up a quick first down on a second down run by Dayne that netted six yards, and then were unable to pick up four yards on a third and four, instead gathering three yards on a screen pass from Schaub to Dayne, which brought up a fourth-and-one at the Houston 42. The Texans called a time out and came back on the field with their starting offense and Schaub snuck the ball over for the first down. Two short passes from Schaub to Johnson gained 13 yards, and WR Kevin Walter picked up a first down on a five-yard toss.

The Texans drove to the Saints’ 39, but the Black-and-Gold defense halted the Texans and forced a Houston punt. Long-time NFL punter Matt Turk hit a wobbling 32-yard punt that was downed at the Saints’ 12. The final play of the third quarter was an 11-yard completion from Brees to Karney which took the ball to the Saints’ 23. RB Pierre Thomas picked up six yards on a delayed drawn and Brees and Miller connected for an eight yards gain. A false start infraction on Miller cost the Saints five yards and then a Brees pass intended for Johnson was intercepted by LB Morlon Greenwood at the Saints’ 38 with 13:20 left in the game.

The Saints only allowed three yards, but Texans kicker Kris Brown booted a 53-yard field goal with 12:22 left that gave the home team a 20-10 lead.

The Saints began a critical drive at their own 27 yard-line and converted a third-and-eight with a 10 yard completion from Brees to Colston. Three plays later, it was Brees and Bush that converted a third-and-seven with a quick pass into the flat. The Saints, however, had their luck on third downs run out when a pass into the flat for Aaron Stecker netted only two yards on a third-and-five. The Saints went for it on fourth-and-three but Brees’ pass to Patten was incomplete and the Texans took over at their own 43.

Houston drove 52 yards in 10 plays and chopped five minutes and 20 seconds off of the clock before Brown hit his third field goal of the game, a 23-yarder late in the game that boosted the home team’s lead to 23-10 at the two-minute warning.

WR Marques Colston said after the game, “We’ve been here before this season and are going to have to fight our way out of this. We need to correct the mistakes that really hurt us today and get ready for a big game next weekend.”

Notes: George H. W. Bush, the 41st President of the United States of America, performed the opening coin flip, which the Texans won. It marked the second time in the past two seasons that Bush has attended a Saints game, as he was also on hand at the re-opening of the Superdome in 2006 when the Saints defeated the Atlanta Falcons ... WR Marques Colston (9-118) went over the 100-yard for the third straight week ... Reggie Bush had a career high 12 receptions.

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