A couple of Adultfyi’ers were late with their picks submissions and, thus, took an automatic loss in Thursday’s game between Denver and Houston. Otherwise, if you picked Houston, you were on the road to another winning weekend.
Winners included Karl the Birdman, myself, Steve Seidman, Jack Spade, Wankus, Steve Lane and Ryan from Jerry’s Deli.
[nationalpost.pa]- Sage Rosenfels [pictured] accounted for two touchdowns and the Houston Texans benefited from a strong second-half rushing performance from Ron Dayne to keep their play-off hopes alive with a 31-13 win over the Denver Broncos on Thursday night.
Houston (7-7) are just about still in the AFC playoff race, one and a half games behind the Cleveland Browns (8-5) for the final spot. The Tennessee Titans (7-6) and Buffalo Bills (7-6) are also in the running.
It was also a satisfying outcome for Texans coach Gary Kubiak, who served under Broncos chief Mike Shanahan in Denver for 11 seasons as the team’s offensive co-ordinator and quarterbacks coach before taking the Houston job on January 26, 2006.
Rosenfels helped Houston build an early 7-0 lead with the first rushing score of his career. He was a perfect 4-of-4 on the Texans’ game-opening drive that put Houston in position for a third consecutive touchdown drive to open a game.
After faking a hand-off to running back Darius Walker on the opening series, the reserve quarterback – making his second consecutive start for an injured Matt Schaub – beat Denver’s defense as he rolled out to the left side and outraced the Broncos to the end zone for a five-yard score.
On the first drive of the second half, with the Texans holding a slim 10-6 lead, Dayne extended the advantage to 17-6 when he capped a nine-play, 74-yard drive with six-yard rush up the middle. Dayne, who did not record a carry in the first half, finished with 11 for 67 yards.
Following Denver’s scoring drive at the end of the third quarter, Rosenfels dashed the Broncos’ hopes of gaining ground in the AFC East race when he found Andre Johnson in the end zone for his only touchdown pass of the contest to push the lead to 24-13 with 10:06 remaining.
Rosenfels completed 16-of-27 passes for 200 yards with an interception. The Texans added their final score when fullback Vonta Leach drove through the heart of the Broncos’ defence for a one-yard touchdown plunge that gave Houston a 31-13 advantage with 3:20 left in the game.
Defensive end Mario Williams had his best game as a pro, recording a new franchise record of 3 1/2 sacks, the last with 8:38 left that ended the Broncos’ hopes of victory. A former number one overall draft pick, Williams trails only Seattle’s Patrick Kerney with 13 sacks this season.
The defence played a key role for the Texans, who sacked Denver quarterback Jay Cutler five times and held the vaunted Broncos’ rushing attack to just 72 yards. Cutler finished 27-of-39 for 254 yards and a touchdown for the Broncos.