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| Other Week 16 Game Recaps | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARI at NE | ATL at MIN | BAL at DAL | BUF at DEN | CAR at NYG | CIN at CLE | GB at CHI | HOU at OAK |
| IND at JAX | MIA at KC | NO at DET | NYJ at SEA | PHI at WAS | PIT at TEN | SD at TB | SF at STL |
Week 16 Game Recap: Houston Texans 16, Oakland Raiders 27
What you need to know
| Houston Texans |
QB Matt Schaub and WR Andre Johnson were held in check by the Oakland defense. They were unable to break the big plays or get into the end zone.
K Kris Brown connected from 53 and 24 yards out in the second quarter to tie the game up at halftime, 13-13.
The Houston defense and special teams both let down to start the second half, and the Raiders took advantage. QB JaMarcus Russell threw a touchdown pass to WR Johnnie Lee Higgins, and Higgins returned a punt 80 yards for a score on the ensuing possession and the Raiders pulled away, 27-13. Brown added an early fourth quarter field goal to cut the lead to 27-16, but that was as close as the Texans would come as they fell to the Raiders.
| Oakland Raiders |
The Raiders struck first, as QB JaMarcus Russell connected with WR Corey Schilens for a 20 yard touchdown on the team's opening possession. After Houston answered the score with a touchdown of their own, K Sebastian Janikowski nailed two field goals and Oakland took a 13-7 lead into the second quarter.
Houston chipped away at the lead and kicked two second quarter field goals to tie the game up at 13 at halftime. Oakland struck quickly in the second half, and Russell connected with WR Johnnie Lee Higgins on a 29 yard touchdown pass to open the second half scoring. Higgins wasn't done yet, and after the Raiders forced a Texans punt on the next possession, Higgins returned the kick for an 80 yard score to give Oakland a 27-13 lead.
The Raiders shut down the Texans offense for the remainder of the game, and they allowed just a field goal to come away with a 27-16 win.
What you ought to know
| QB Matt Schaub, Pass: 19 - 36 - 255 - 0 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 2 - 10 - 0 |
Matt Schaub had a tough time coming up with the big plays the Texans needed to beat the Raiders on their home field. He finished 19 of 36 for 255 yards, zero touchdowns and one interception, and two rushes for ten yards on the ground. Schaub struggled to come up with any game changing plays, most notably to his favorite target WR Andre Johnson. The Raiders did a nice job containing Johnson while bringing pressure on Schaub, as they finished with three sacks for the game.
| RB Steve Slaton, Rush: 18 - 66 - 0, Rec: 5 - 36 - 0 (7 targets) |
Slaton led the Texans in rushing, as he finished with 18 rushes for 66 yards on the ground, and he also added five receptions for 36 yards on seven targets in the passing game.
| RB Vonta Leach, Rush: 1 - 1 - 1, Rec: 1 - 3 - 0 (1 targets) |
Leach had one rush for a one yard touchdown and also had a three yard reception on his only target of the game.
| WR Kevin Walter, Rush: 1 - 13 - 0, Rec: 2 - 17 - 0 (7 targets) |
Walter was targeted seven times, twice on third downs and one on fourth down, and finished with just two receptions for 17 yards. He also had one rush for 13 yards.
| WR Andre Johnson, Rec: 2 - 19 - 0 (5 targets) |
Johnson was held in check all game long against the Raiders, and he received just five targets. He was able to come down with two receptions for just 19 yards, and the inability of the Texans to get the ball in his hands definitely didn't help their cause against a tough Raiders pass defense.
| WR David Anderson, Rec: 1 - 65 - 0 (2 targets) |
Anderson was targeted two times, and came down with one big reception for a 65 yard gain that helped set up a Houston field goal.
| TE Owen Daniels, Rec: 7 - 111 - 0 (8 targets) |
Daniels caught seven of the eight passes thrown his way for 111 yards. He led the Texans in targets, and five of his receptions resulted in first downs.
| PK Kris Brown 3 - 3 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 10 points |
Brown nailed all three of his field goal attempts from 53, 24 and 40 yards out and added an extra point to finish with ten points in the game.
| HOU Rush Defense |
The Houston defense played well against the run, as they gave up 139 yards on 34 attempts, for a 4.1 ypc average, but they certainly could have played better. They held the Raiders without a rushing touchdown and had three tackles for loss on running plays. For the game, they allowed just five rushing first downs and gave up a long run of just 14 yards.
LB DeMeco Ryans finished with four solo tackles, one assist and a forced fumble for the Texans and fellow LB Morlon Greenwood had five solo tackles of his own.
| HOU Pass Defense |
The Texans had a tough time figuring out the Oakland passing game, which has struggled throughout most of this year. They allowed 223 net passing yards, finished with just one sack and allowed two passing scores. For the game, they gave up 12 passing first downs and allowed the Raiders to convert seven of 14 third down conversions.
DT Amobi Okoye registered the team's only sack and DB Eugene Wilson finished with eight solo tackles and one assist to lead the secondary.
| QB JaMarcus Russell, Pass: 18 - 25 - 236 - 2 TD / 0 INT |
Russell had an efficient game passing for the Raiders, as he finished 18 of 25 for 236 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions. Russell's touchdown passes came in the first quarter, when he connected with WR Corey Schilens from 20 yards out, and the third quarter with a scoring strike to WR Johnnie Lee Higgins from 29 yards out. The young QB managed the game nicely for Oakland, and did what he needed to do to help his team pull out the win. Perhaps the only negative for Russell on the game was a lost fumble.
| RB Justin Fargas, Rush: 22 - 93 - 0, Rec: 1 - 4 - 0 (1 targets) |
Fargas shouldered the load in the running game as he finished with 22 rushes for 93 yards on the ground, and also added a four yard reception on his only target in the passing game. Fargas did have a fumble, but Oakland was able to retain possession on the miscue.
| RB Darren McFadden, Rush: 12 - 46 - 0, Rec: 5 - 41 - 0 (6 targets) |
McFadden contributed in the running game with 12 rushes for 46 yards, and added five receptions for 41 yards on six targets in the passing game. Two of his targets came on third down situations, and three of his receptions resulted in first downs.
| WR Johnnie Lee Higgins, Rec: 3 - 56 - 1 (6 targets) |
Higgins had a big game all around for the Raiders, as he finished with three receptions for 56 yards on six targets that included a 29 yard touchdown reception, and also added an 80 yard punt return for a touchdown, both of which came in the third quarter. Oakland was definitely looking to utilize his speed, as he was targeted five times on deep receiving patterns.
| WR Chaz Schilens, Rec: 3 - 52 - 1 (3 targets) |
Schilens caught all three balls thrown his way for 52 yards, and opened scoring in the game with a first quarter touchdown reception from 20 yards out from JaMarcus Russell.
| TE Zach Miller, Rec: 4 - 70 - 0 (6 targets) |
Miller led the Raiders in receiving as he finished with four receptions for 70 yards on six targets. Two of his targets came on third down plays, and all four of his receptions resulted in first downs.
| PK Sebastian Janikowski 2 - 2 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 9 points |
Janikowski connected from 33 and 30 yards out on his only field goal attempts and added three extra points to finish with nine points in the game.
| OAK Rush Defense |
The Raiders were able to contain the Texans rushing attack, most notably RB Steve Slaton, and they allowed 90 rush yards on 22 attempts, for a 4.1 ypc average. For the game they allowed just five rushing first downs and gave up a long run of 19 yards. They did allow a one yard touchdown run by RB Vonta Leach, but a 14 point third quarter outburst put the Raiders in the driver's seat and took the Houston rushing attack out of the equation for most of the second half.
LB Thomas Howard finished with five solo tackles and a forced fumble to lead the front seven.
| OAK Pass Defense |
Oakland's defense against the pass continued to show flashes as they allowed a net of 234 pass yards, sacked Houston QB Matt Schaub three times and added an interception, and allowed just three of 13 on third down conversion attempts. Most importantly for the Raiders, they did not allow WR Andre Johnson to get into a groove, and most of that credit can go to talented DB Nnamdi Asomugha.
DB Gibril Wilson led the way with seven solo tackles and one assist, and DB Chris Johnson tallied the team's only interception. DE Derrick Burgess had two sacks to lead the front seven.