Houston Texans Steered to Defeat by Philadelphia Eagles

Against all odds and sensibilities, the Houston Texans were somehow once again in a position to claim a stake in both a game and a season by winning on the road in Philadelphia against the Eagles and NFL MVP contender Michael Vick.

But Houston was challenged by its offense's slow start, a costly turnover, and missed opportunities in the first half. Contributing no help to the Texans cause was a defense initially succumbing to an immediately productive Philadelphia Eagles offense that kept the ball 19:18 of the first two quarters.

Vick deftly led his team with a surgical precision comprised of a balanced attack that incorporated his arm, his feet, and his complement of weapons that made up the rest of Philadelphia's offensive arsenal yielding two length-of-the-field touchdown drives on their first two possessions.

When the Texans finally responded and were driving at the end of the first half trailing 17 - 10, Matt Schaub threw a "Man, I'd like to have that one back!" interception to Eagles defensive lineman Trevor Laws. Houston was fortunate that ultimately a dropped touchdown pass by Brent Celek on the ensuing possession meant Philly had to settle for a field goal and a 20 - 10 halftime lead.

Houston opened up the second half with consecutive possessions resulting in touchdowns by Arian Foster as their fourteen unanswered points gave them their first lead of the night at 24 - 20. Those two drives sandwiched a Vick interception, but Glover Quin's fourth pick in five days would only momentarily stall the Eagles, as only they would score the game's remaining points with two more touchdown drives.

Despite the Texans defense desperately trying to hold the Eagles to a field goal to keep it a one possession game late in the fourth quarter, Philadelphia's final touchdown scoring drive included a converted 3rd and 19 pass to a determined "stretch for the stick" Celek after Houston safety Bernard Pollard's near-interception at the goal line the previous play.

The Houston Texans fall to the Philadelphia Eagles 34 - 24, dropping to 5 - 7 on the season.