The Houston Texans were expected to blow out the New York Jets on Monday night. It didn't happen exactly that way, but the end result was the same: Houston got the win.
The Jets kept things close throughout the game, but the team couldn't overcome its own mistakes as the Texans won 23-17 on Monday night. Houston improved to 5-0 and is the second undefeated team left in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons.
Running back Arian Foster had over 100 yards rushing and defensive end J.J. Watt showed why he is one of the best players in the NFL as the Texans held serve against the Jets.
"Arian stepped up and played huge," quarterback Matt Schaub said. "We're very excited to be 5-0 and get a win on the road."
Watt had one sack in the game but made his presence known by knocking down multiple passes at the line of scrimmage. He leads the league in pass deflections and one pass he tipped was intercepted by the Texans and returned 86 yards to set up a scoring drive.
Schuab was solid all game, passing for 209 yards and a touchdown to tight end Owen Daniels on the opening drive of the game. Daniels had four receptions and 79 yards in the game.
"It's definitely our best start," Daniels said, "and a big part of that is it doesn't matter on this team about stats or individually what is going on. It's great to be a part of something like that."
According to ESPN.com, Schuab won his ninth straight start, which is the longest streak in the league.
Sanchez has been a huge disappointment for the Jets, completing less than 50 percent of his passes for the third straight game. He threw two interceptions, one of which were tipped off his own receivers hands.
The fourth-year quarterback looked good early in the game, passing a touchdown to Jeff Cumberland, but couldn't gain any momentum in the second half.
The Texans went into halftime with a 17-7 lead after scoring a rushing touchdown from Foster and a field goal at the end of the half from Shayne Graham. The kick at the end was a bit crushing for the Jets.
New York was driving down the field late in the second quarter, but a Sanchez pass was tipped by Watt and returned by Brice McCain 86 yards to inside the 10 yard line to set up the Texans with a field goal.
Following another Graham field goal in the third quarter, the Jets cut the lead again to 20-14 after a dynamic 100-yard kickoff return from Joe McKnight. On the following kickoff the Jets attempted an onside kick and had it in their hand, but dropped the ball allowing the Texans to retain possession.
The teams traded field goals leaving the Jets behind 23-17 in the fourth quarter.
"You got to give yourself a chance to win and we did that tonight," Sanchez said.
On the final drive for the Jets, Sanchez threw another interception, this time off a tipped ball by Cumberland, allowing Houston to close out the game.
"I honestly thought we were going to drive down the field and score a touchdown" on the last drive," wide receiver Chaz Schilens said. "It's not going the right way."
The Houston defense wasn't dominating on Monday, but was good enough to win. The unit took a hit on Monday though, with linebacker Brian Cushing suffering a serious injury. Reports from ESPN say that Cushing could be lost for the season with an ACL injury.
"I don't know what happened," Kubiak said. "They tell me he cut on a play and his foot might have got stuck in the turf."
Foster had one of his best games as a professional, rushing for 152 yards and a touchdown. He became the third-fastest player to reach 5,000 yards from scrimmage his career, doing it in only 40 games.
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