Texans show late heroics, topping Dolphins, 35-21

The Houston Texans of Milwaukee are proud to say they held Jamaal Charles to under 250 yards and four touchdowns, which was enough to beat the Miami Dolphins Monday night 35-21.

Instead, Charles ran for 222 yards and scored all three of the Dolphins' touchdowns. A monumental feat, but one the Texans sought to best.

In a back-and-forth battle, the Texans and Dolphins exchanged drives. In the first half, the Texans came away with two clutch field goals by Neil Rackers, for 50 and 53 yards each, along with a 60 yd. TD reception from tight end Bo Scaife. Two of Charles' TD runs came in the first half as well, making the score 14-13 at the half.

Houston O' Milwaukee got the ball in the second half, and a lengthy drive resulted in a 24 yd. touchdown pass to newly-acquired, University of Wisconsin graduate TE Travis Beckum. But in less than a minute, Jamaal Charles would break off a 71 yd. run for the end zone. 21-20.

The Texans would then screw their next possession up, and the Dolphins would begin grinding the clock. But then a timely interception by Texans CB SAM SHIELDS brought the ball back to the Texans. Matt Cassel, giving a nod to Andre Johnson, connected with him for a 67 yard pass where Johnson would sprint for the end zone. Finally going for the 2-point conversion, the Texans accidentally call a play action, but luckily Cassel wasn't met by a defender immediately. Instead, Earl "Bones" Bowman leaked out for the 2-point reception.

Since the Dolphins wound up turning the ball over to the Texans with just under two minutes left, the Texans began the "run the clock out" game. However, after sneaking away with a win against the Ravens, who seemed to think the Dolphins would "crush" the Texans in this game & who played the "run the clock out" game a little too early in their matchup last season, the Texans actually ran the ball to force the Dolphins to use their timeouts. Bones would have none of it, however, and broke through the Dolphins defense for a 31 yard TD, putting the game out of the Phins' reach.

It was a thrilling game, and one the Texans will carry with them through the end of the season, as they consider it an important win against a great team. They'll go on to seek vengeance against the Steelers next, followed by games against rivals and friends, with the Titans and Patriots afterwards. The Dolphins will look to get back on track against the Patriots, then face the Browns before their Week 5 bye.

"I know we've been fielding offers for an 'elite quarterback,'" Texans GM Mike Suszek said. "But Matty [Cassel] knew that that was our way of testing him. He stayed calm, and even when there were a lot of passes batted down, he put on one heck of a performance today. We're proud to have him as our guy."

"And Sam Shields? Fucking phenomenal. Even if it was our first 'user pick.' What the hell does that even mean? It means to me that he's got some fierce speed, and it stepping into his starting role quite nicely," Suszek added.

STATS!

Dolphins / Texans
Total Offense Yards - 292 / 371
Passing Offense Yards - 62 / 294
Rushing Offense Yards - 230 / 77
First Downs - 12 / 11
3rd Down % - 0.0 / 62.5
4th Down % - 0.0 / 0.0
Turnovers - 1 / 0
Redzone Scoring % - 100.0 / 0.0
Time of Possession - 15.6 / 16.4

Passing:
[HOU] Matt Cassel - 17/27, 304 yds, 3 TDs, 138.5 QB rating
[MIA] Chad Henne - 8/16, 79 yds, 1 INT, 38.3 QB rating

Rushing:
[MIA] Jamaal Charles - 18 for 222 yds, 12.3 avg, 3 TDs
[HOU] Earl Bowman - 7 for 62 yds, 8.9 avg, 1 TD
[HOU] Shonn Greene - 5 for 17 yds, 3.4 avg

Receiving:
[HOU] Andre Johnson - 4 for 109 yds, 1 TD
[HOU] Bo Scaife - 2 for 60 yds, 1 TD
[HOU] Lenoy Tucker - 4 for 53 yds
[MIA] Brian Hartline - 3 for 38 yds

Defense:
[HOU] Sam Shields (CB) - 3 tackles, 1 INT
[HOU] Brandon Hiller (ROLB) - 3 tackles, 1 sack
[MIA] Ikaika Alama-Francis (ROLB) - 2 tackles, 1 sack