The only constant in the Texans-Titans divisional matchups is that the games tend to be ugly, weird and often come down to the wire. Sunday, the TItans got the heartbreaking ending after the Texans kicked a 23-yard field goal with 2:55 left to win the game, 34-31. Kerry Collins tried staging a comeback but fumbled the ball with the Texans recovering. The Titans. who seemed not to be able to lose a regular-season game last season. are now 0-2.In 2006, former Titans starting quarterback Vince Young had a 39-yard TD run to beat the Texans in his hometown of Houston. In 2007, the Texans staged a 29-point 4th quarter comeback, only to have Collins engineer a drive that ended with a field goal with two seconds left. In 2008, the Texans beat the Titans in a hard-fought, low-scoring 13-12 game where fans wondered why Jeff Fisher went for a long 4th-down pass instead of going for a long field goal late in the 4th. This year's game could not have been much stranger:
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• Though the offensive yards were fairly even between the teams, the Texans won the time of possession, 34:03 to 25:57. This strange phenomenon resulted from the Texans defense allowing the Titans to score so quickly. Titans running back Chris Johnson had touchdown runs of 57 yards and 91 yards and a 69-yard touchdown reception where the Texans inexplicably left him completely uncovered. Quite a unique defense to not cover the best offensive player for the opposing team.
• Last week, Matt Schaub had zero touchdowns, one interception and passed for only 166 yards. This week, against a defense that is traditionally difficult to move the ball on, especially at home, he went for three TDs, no INTs and passed for 357 yards. He did this without his No. 2 receiver, Kevin Walter, and his No. 3 receiver, André Davis, who were out due to injury.
• There was a sideline fight. A big one. Titans defensive tackle Jason Jones was ejected in the 4th quarter for throwing a punch. The Texans players had been getting a ton of grief after their blowout loss to the Jets about not being a physical team, and they took exception to it.
• Extraordinarily inconsistent returner Jacoby Jones appeared to muff a fair catch at the Houston 9-yard line right before the 4th quarter. Titans ball, right? After the commercial break, the Texans offense was back on the field on the Houston 24. In the interim, the referees penalized Titans defender Jason McCourty for interfering with the opportunity to make a fair catch because, after Jones bobbled the ball, McCourty grabbed it before it hit the ground.
• Titans punter Craig Hentrich suffered what was described as a calf injury during the strange Jones non-fumble. Kicker Rob Bironas later was forced take punting duties, connecting with a 40-yard boot late in the fourth quarter.
When it was all over, the Texans had a huge statement win on the road -- but it was an exhausting game just to watch.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Another fine example of one huge bad call by the refs affecting the outcome of a game. If the call is correct then the rule has to be changed because under that scenario a player can signal fair catch and then sit there and bobble the ball around all day long if he so desires and there is nothing anyone can do about it so long as it never hits the ground.
Yeah, that's the way the rule is and without it a defensive player could just grab the ball out of the fair catcher's hands as soon as it hits. No, the rule exists just for this reason, he has full rights to the ball until it hits the ground even if he bobbled it.
It's pretty pathetic to blame good calls by the refs on your team losing. They should have played defense at any point in the 4th quarter if they wanted to win.
This was a good call. When has anyone ever seen a player "bobble the ball around all day" as Steve suggests?
I hereby resign as an NFL fan. If a ball laying loose in the end zone is ruled a touchdown "catch", and a ball bouncing off a punt reciever's chest is ruled a penalty against the kicking tean, then this isn't football. Might as well thug it the NBA. Not one penny from my pocket will either ever get again. What next? Is everyone going to have kick around Jerry Jones' TV set?
F the NFL. It's not about football any more, Toto.
nonmes..... resignation accepted
The Titans and Texans both gave their all in what I thought was the best game of the day. They can both be proud of the way they played...
http://www.nfl.com/rulebook/faircatch
Digest of Rules Main
Fair Catch
The member of the receiving team must raise one arm a full length above his head and wave it from side to side while kick is in flight. (Failure to give proper sign: receivers’ ball five yards behind spot of signal.) Note: It is legal for the receiver to shield his eyes from the sun by raising one hand no higher than the helmet.
No opponent may interfere with the fair catcher, the ball, or his path to the ball. Penalty: 15 yards from spot of foul and fair catch is awarded.
A player who signals for a fair catch is not required to catch the ball. However, if a player signals for a fair catch, he may not block or initiate contact with any player on the kicking team until the ball touches a player. Penalty: snap 15 yards.
If ball hits ground or is touched by member of kicking team in flight, fair catch signal is off and all rules for a kicked ball apply.
Any undue advance by a fair catch receiver is delay of game. No specific distance is specified for undue advance as ball is dead at spot of catch. If player comes to a reasonable stop, no penalty. For penalty, five yards.
If time expires while ball is in play and a fair catch is awarded, receiving team may choose to extend the period with one fair catch kick down. However, placekicker may not use tee.