Schaub Up for FedEx Air Player of the Week

Quarterbacks DREW BREES of the New Orleans Saints, CHAD PENNINGTON of the Miami Dolphins and MATT SCHAUB of the Houston Texans are the finalists for the FedEx Air NFL Player of the Week honors for games played on October 26 - 27, while running backs CLINTON PORTIS of the Washington Redskins, BRIAN WESTBROOK of the Philadelphia Eagles and DE ANGELO WILLIAMS of the Carolina Panthers are the finalists for the FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week honors, the NFL announced today.

Fans can vote for one player in each category on NFL.com/FedEx from 9 a.m. EST on Tuesday through 11 a.m. EST on Friday to determine the FedEx Air & Ground NFL Players of the Week. The winners will be announced Friday afternoon on NFL.com.

Fans will be voting for more than their favorite player. As part of the Air & Ground program for the first time, FedEx is teaming up with Safe Kids USA – a national non-profit organization that works to prevent accidental injury among children – to deliver safer kids by making weekly $1,000 donations in the winning players’ names. The funding directly benefits local Safe Kids coalitions in that team’s city, to fund pedestrian safety improvements throughout the year. This year, FedEx celebrates its fifth year of the program and will surpass the $1 million mark in funding to create safer communities for children.

New this season, fans can tune into the “FedEx Air & Ground Lowdown” posted only on NFL.com/FedEx starting Wednesday mornings. The show examines the nominees in the Air & Ground categories through exclusive video highlights and expert analysis. NFL Network’s MARSHALL FAULK and TERRELL DAVIS host the weekly five-minute show.

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Texans Waive RB Walker; Promote RB Moats from Practice Squad

The Houston Chronicle is reporting that the Texans today placed RB Darius Walker on waivers and activated RB Ryan Moats from the practice squad. Walker was active for 5 of six games in 08, but didn’t get a carry. Moats was signed to the teams practice squad back on October 7th.

Week 8: Texans Welcome Winless Bengals to Town

No Carson Palmer, no wins in seven games, 32nd ranked offense. Does it get any worse if you’re a Bengals fan these days? Maybe not, but nevertheless, the Bengals will pack their bags and head to the Lone Star State this weekend, as the team will take on an improving Houston Texans team that is looking for their 3rd straight win.

Despite only being 2-4, the Texans boast the 5th ranked offense in the league, and right now have possibly the best WR in the game in game-breaker Andre Johnson, who has gone over 100 yards receiving each of the last three games. When Johnson and QB Matt Schaub are connecting as they have the last three weeks, the Texans are hard to beat.

So with another week of Ryan Fitzpatrick coming for the Bengals, does this group have a chance to even come close to a win? Well, let’s keep it in perspective that they did play hard for 3+ quarters vs the Steelers at home last week until they fell apart and allowed three 4th quarter TD’s in a 38-10 loss.

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No Surprise that Johnson’s Success Has Come in Two Wins

The Texans have won two straight games and are back on track to try and make an impact in the 08 season. A big reason for those two wins has been the play of one of the most underrated WR’s in the game today - Andre Johnson. After a slow stretch in which he caught just five passes in losses in weeks three and four, Johnson has been on fire over the course of the last two weeks.

Sunday vs the Lions he caught 11 passes for 141 yards. Two weeks ago in the wild win over the Dolphins, he pulled in 10 passes for 178 yards and a score, an average of 17.8 yards per catch. It’s no shock that Johnson has had two monster games, and the Texans are 2-0 in those games.

It was just last season during their early 2-0 start that Johnson and QB Matt Schaub found themselves on the same page. Then Johnson went down with a knee injury, and the team suffered and were never the same. Johnson came back, and just like that the team started to play better.

Consider the last three games that Johnson has caught 30 passes for 450 yards and two scores, and it’s easy to see what makes the Texans offense go. Their 03 first round draft pick out of Miami.

Texans Move to 2-4 After 28-21 Win Over Lions

Despite almost blowing a 21-0 lead to the hapless Detroit Lions, the Houston Texans showed enough on Sunday at home to earn their second win of the season, outlasting Detroit 28-21.  The Texans jumped on Detroit to go up 21-0 after two first quarter scores and then a Steve Slaton TD early in the second quarter to build the three TD lead.

Detroit, playing their second consecutive competitive game, got back into the contest with a pair of Jason Hanson field goals and two TD’s.  They moved to 28-21 with 4:10 left, but Houston was able to run off four minutes of the clock to keep the Lions offense off the field and preserve the win.  Houston moves to 2-4, while the Lions fall to 0-6.

Matt Schaub was 26-for-31 for the Texans, throwing for 267 yards against a poor Lions defnese and two touchdowns with a QB rating of 124.1.  Slaton ran for 80 yards on 17 carries, and Ahman Green ran for 62 yards on 17 carries, and each of the big two backs for the Texans had a score.  Andre Johson was on fire again for Houston, catching 11 passes for 141 yards.  Overall Houston had 404 yards of offense, and held the ball for 40:04 while Detroit had it for just 19:56.

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CB Robinson Activated; Taylor Placed on IR

The Texans made some roster moves today that could help them as they approach the second half of the season.  The team today activated cornerback Dunta Robinson and put running back Chris Taylor on season-ending injured reserve. Robinson has been out since November, when a collision with a teammate tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and ripped his hamstring off the bone. He returned to practice Wednesday and could play Sunday against the Lions. Taylor has been out with a deep thigh bruise.

Previewing the Texans Matchup w/ Detroit

The Houston Texans saved their season last Sunday when QB Matt Schaub pulled off a gutsy QB sneak on 4th down from the three-yard line trailing against the Dolphins at Reliant Stadium. This Sunday the team takes on the winless Detroit Lions, and they are hoping that they will not need the same type of heroics to move to 2-4 on the season.

The Lions are coming off their best outing of the year, a gut-wrenching 12-10 loss to the Vikings on Sunday in Minnesota. Many say they were robbed on a late pass interference call that went against them and set up Ryan Longwell for the game-winning field goal. While they played their best ball of the year, they are still 0-5, and they moved maybe their best offensive player this week in WR Roy Williams.

So it’s rebuilding time again for Detroit, as the team also put QB Jon Kitna on IR, meaning that Dan Orlovsky will get the call under center. Last week in his first career start he went 12 of 21 passes for 150 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. However, he also accidentally ran out of bounds in the end zone for a safety in the first quarter, which proved to be a critical play in the close game.

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Schaub’s Sneak Lifts Texans to First Win 29-28 Over Miami

In what ended up as the most wild game of the early games in week six, the Texans used a Matt Schaub 3-yard QB run for a TD with three seconds left to win their first game of the season, stunning the Miami Dolphins 29-28 at Reliant Stadium. The Texans were down 28-23 with 1:45 to go when Ronnie Brown went six yards for the go-ahead score.

Schaub, who missed last week with a virus, took the team down the field, getting sacked right away, but ending the drive 4-for-10 for 81 yards to get in position for the game-winning run. The big play was Schaub going to Kevin Walter for 30 yards from the Fins 41 with :29 seconds left. Three plays later, Schaub went in for the game-winner.

Houston needed a win in the worst way, as they finally got their first win of the season against four losses. The Dolphins suffer the crushing defeat to fall to 2-3 on the season. The teams combined for 57 points and 855 yards, the Texans putting up 485 yards on a Dolphins team that held the Chargers in check last week in a 17-10 win.

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Key Fantasy Matchups for Sunday’s Dolphins-Texans Matchup

From: KFFL.com

Texans QB Matt Schaub vs. Dolphins pass defense

The Dolphins have been solid in getting at opposing quarterbacks, recording 12 sacks in their first four games. Schaub wasn’t sacked once in his last start. Part of that had to do with improvement along the offensive line, especially with left tackle Duane Brown. Part of it had to do with Schaub making quicker decisions and getting rid of the ball quickly. The Texans will rely on both of those aspects again.

Texans RB Steve Slaton vs. Dolphins run defense

Slaton has been strong in his first three starts, but he faces a big task this week against the Dolphins. He may be as big a key in the receiving game as the running game. He must continue to slip past tacklers in the middle and bounce outside, into open space when he can. Slaton will continue to share carries with Ahman Green, but Slaton will get the most touches, most likely around 20.

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Schaub To Start vs. Dolphins

Apparently recovered from a viral infection (and no doubt shoddy play late in the Houston Texans‘ loss to the Indianapolis Colts Sunday by quarterback Sage Rosenfels), QB Matt Schaub, according to John McClain of the Houston Chronicle, will start this Sunday against the Miami Dolphins; according to head coach Gary Kubiak,

“Matt’s still a little weak, but he should be fine.  He’s feeling a lot better today.  I don’t see any reason he won’t be on the (practice) field Wednesday.”