What About Schaub?

I know you're probably expecting a certain amount of modesty and maturity to go with my elation over today's win, but you can forget it. What a win! Praise Kubiak, I'll never stray again, you are my shepherd!

Yes, salty cynic that I am, I expressed my belief that Houston would not be able to win this game, although I thought they'd stay close. I thought Carolina would establish the run, Steve Smith would beat our secondary repeatedly, and the Panther D would heap pressure on Schaub and keep us off-rhythm all game. One out of three ain't bad.

Houston put themselves in an early hole, giving up a TD pass that saw Steve Smith tip the ball away from DeMarcus Faggins to himself, and then fumbling the ball away on their next possession in their own territory, which would result in a second Steve Smith score that made it a quick 14-0 Carolina lead. Faced with an uphill climb on the road against the possible NFC South champions, the Texans could have easily wilted in the sun. In fact, we wouldn't have been at all surprised by it, since Houston had never overcome a double-digit first quarter deficit on the road before. But then, Matt Schaub took the field, and perhaps defined Houston's season.

Schaub proceeded to lead the offense down the field on a 16-play, 80-yard drive that closed with a nine-yard pass to Andre Johnson for the score. The length of the drive took the fans out of the game, and the long rest was all Houston's defense needed to keep Carolina in check until the game was well in hand. Houston scored 34 consecutive points before a third Steve Smith TD was scored too late to be of any major consequence (although I must say, some of the tackles he broke on that 74-yard TD were superhuman). Schaub helped Andre Johnson take over as Houston's all-time leader in TD receptions with 21 (Corey Bradford had 18) before the day was out, and Ahman Green's first TD as a Texan put a ribbon on a banner day for the team.

I am awed by today's game. Not only by Schaub's awesome performance, or by Houston keeping Schaub from being sacked once while simultaneously grounding Delhomme three times. What I really took as a sign of Houston's start not being a flash in the pan is that the Houston defense allowed Carolina, who is historically a run-first team, to run for only 66 yards on the ground, 13 of which came from Delhomme late in the game. Even when Carolina was up two touchdowns early, Houston had completely eliminated the run as an option, and after that second score, the Panthers offense played like one of their legs had been kicked out from under them, and in essence, that was true. Houston took a simple approach to beating a good team, stuck with it even when they got behind early, and beat the opposition down with it. And the marks of a winning team showed up plentifully; Houston dominated time of possession by nearly 10 minutes, and also won the turnover battle for the second time this season. I questioned Schaub last week, he was the only piece of the team that didn't completely fit for me last week, but today, he fit like a 10-year old baseball mitt, and I could watch him play seven days a week.

The only bad news that can be taken away from today's game is that Andre Johnson, who has all three of Matt Schaub's TD passes with Houston, sprained his knee. His status will be updated in the next 24 hours, but the Texans may hold him back next week as a precaution, since he's clearly Schaub's favorite target. If he can't go, we'll be very hindered next week.. when Indianapolis comes to town. More on that later.

And lastly, my friends, I must confess something. I again tried to take advantage of my team, the team I hold so dear, or at least claim to. Faced with the question of who to start on my 1-0 fantasy team, I had to choose from Delhomme, David Garrard, or Eli Manning. And, in a moment of weakness, I chose the Carolina QB. And yes, he had a good statistical day, thanks in very large part to the manchild that is Steve Smith -- who my opponent had. Yes, each time Delhomme hit Smith for a TD, it hurt more than helped. And did I mention my opponent also had Chad Johnson? I have paid for my moral error, as my team was felled, 146-99. I throw myself on the mercy of the blog!

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