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The Houston Texans have never made the playoffs nor had a winning record. After a 27-20 victory in Miami Sunday, however, they may have a chance to accomplish both next week. The win ran their record to 8-7 and, more importantly, gave the Texans a shot at making the playoffs. They'll need some help, but losses by the Jaguars, Ravens and Titans in Week 16 were already a step in the right direction. Still, the biggest need the Texans had on the agenda Sunday was winning a game against fellow playoff hopeful Miami. Judging on how the two teams began the game, the Texans certainly wanted it more. They stormed out of the gate to a 27-0 lead with 4:25 left in the first half. They knocked Ricky Williams from the game, forced two three-and-outs and added a Brian Cushing interception. Offensively, Matt Schaub was in a zone, Andre Johnson and Jacoby Jones were dominant and Arian Foster was showing what he could do. It was a laugher.
While the second half was a totally different scene, the 27-point lead turned out to be just enough for the win.
"That's why we're here -- to take this franchise to the next level,'' Schaub said. "All we can do is control what we do, and that's what we did today.''
Give the Dolphins credit for clawing their way back into the game. Chad Henne threw for 322 yards -- his third 300-yard passing game in Miami's past four. The Dolphins defense shut the Texans' mighty offense out for the final 34 minutes. Lex Hilliard took over for Williams in the backfield and scored the first two touchdowns of his career. They didn't even turn the ball over again after the early Henne pick.
The valiant comeback attempt fell short when Foster had a six-yard run on a critical third-and-three with less than a minute remaining and the Dolphins out of timeouts. The moral of the story? Don't fall behind 27-0 -- at home, no less -- when you need to win to stay in the playoff race. That is simply inexcusable.
They'll need to get some help in order to make the playoffs, but, much like this week, the most important thing going forward for the Texans will be taking care of their own business -- Houston closes the season at home against the Patriots, who are just 2-5 on the road this year.
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