Texans Barely Top Vikings, 14-10

The Vikings drove thousands of miles from Alaska to Houston, TX, expecting a sell-out crowd to watch a great match in the warm weather. However, they were greeted Friday by a large gap in the Earth with a single sign, reading, "The Houston Texans have been relocated to Milwaukee, WI. We apologize for any inconvenience."

After pondering what kind of mess this was for season ticket holders (an issue the Texans of Milwaukee are still hammering out; currently every home game rotates between their Texas and their Wisconsin fanbase), the Vikings (of Alaska) piloted their dog-sled team north. While they weren't prepared for the fluctuation of warm and cold weather, alongside intermittent showers (and highs in the 80's... stay tuned to your local on the 8's for your 7-day forecast), the sold-out crowd and great match-up remained.

The Texans started the game with a three-and-out, before punting to Percy Harvin. Harvin then returned that punt 77 yards for a touchdown, spiking the ball on Texans Owner Mike Suszek's face.

Disgraced, Matt Cassel began throwing the ball miserably, with the first of two interceptions reaching the hands of Darrelle Revis, who he forgot was on the Vikings' squad. Eventually, the Texans found their stride in the hands of HB Earl "BONES" Bowman, who had 131 yards on the day. Dicing through the Vikings' defensive line, he eventually pounded his way into the end zone on 3rd down on the 1 yard line, giving the Vikings the ball with too little time in the first half to make anything happen.

The Vikings' offense had moments of brilliance, as they worked their way down the field multiple times, but came up short in the third quarter, and took a field goal. 10-7, Vikings. Sometime between now and the next big play (I think), the Texans took their anger out on Percy Harvin, injuring him for the game. He may be out longer, but I didn't check.

Cassel wasn't done throwing interceptions, however, and chose Alaskan CB Cedric Griffin as a target early in the 4th quarter. A couple of big stops later, and the Texans worked their way slowly down the field, before Cassel, near the end zone with the first play after the two minute warning, found Andre Johnson in the end zone to take the lead.

With all their timeouts and about 1:54 left in the game, the Vikings went three-and-out, and chose to punt the ball back to the Texans, certain that luck in the turnover battle would continue to swing their way. With Bones held to just four yards in the first two plays of the next drive, the Texans took to the air to find former 4TH STRING tight end James Casey get the game-ending first down.

This was a fun, excellent defensive battle, and I can say for sure that Kevin is MUCH better than his 3-9 record indicates. Both teams now look forward to their own separate "Conflict of Interests Bowls," with the Texans (7-5) driving a few hours up to Green Bay to face the Packers (currently 4-7), while the Vikings (3-9) drive down to D.C. to face another Vikings fan, Kat and the Redskins (currently 10-1).

With this game, the Texans have now matched the amount of wins they had last season (seven), and rookie running back sensation Bones achieved over 1,000 yards rushing on the season. They'll be having cake to celebrate.

Vikings / Texans
Total Offense Yards - 88 / 210
Passing Offense Yards - 84 / 81
Rushing Offense Yards - 4 / 129
First Downs - 5 / 11
3rd Down % - 33.3 / 57.1
Turnovers - 1 / 2
Redzone Scoring % - 50.0 / 66.7
Time of Possession - 16.0 / 16.0 (This was something like 16 and some change for the Vikings, 15ish for the Texans, but LM hates TOP stats)


Passing:
[HOU] Matt Cassel QB - 80.8, 8/17 (47.1), 81 yds, 1 TD, 2 INTs
[MIN] Andrew Parris QB - 40.9, 11/23 (47.8), 94 yds , 1 INT

Rushing:
[HOU] Earl Bowman HB - 19 for 131 yds, 1 TD
[MIN] Orlando Holliday HB - 8 for 4 yds

Receiving:
[HOU] Andre Johnson WR - 3 for 37 yds, 1 TD
[MIN] Chester Taylor HB - 3 for 27 yds

Defense:
[HOU] Titus Ridder MLB - 5 tackles, 1 sack
[HOU] Sherrick McManis CB - 2 tackles, 1 INT
[MIN] Darrelle Revis CB - 4 tackles, 1 INT
[MIN] Cedric Griffin CB - 2 tackles, 1 INT