Houston Texans 23 – Miami Dolphins 13
The Houston Texans continued their run to the top of the AFC South. Today they travelled to Miami and thoroughly dominated the Dolphins en route to a 23-13 victory. After a big Week 1 for Chad Henne and the ‘Fins offense against New England, they struggled getting going against the new-look Texans defensive approach.
Houston’s star running back Arian Foster was questionable coming into this game after missing last week with a strained hamstring. He made the start this afternoon after an abbreviated practice week. But it was not long before Foster went down clutching that same injury midway through the game.
Ben Tate jumped into action for Houston and ran with an impressive burst, collecting more than 100 yards on the ground for the second straight week. The second year player out of Auburn has made the most of his opportunity to get touches out of the Texans backfield.
On the Miami side of the field, rookie running back Daniel Thomas came out and showed why expectations were high for him coming into this year. He excelled today to the tune of 18 carries for 107 yards, and proved why the tough between-the-tackles runner will be featured for the Dolphins ahead of Mr. Reggie Bush. Both teams’ run defenses will have a lot to answer for tomorrow, though.
Matt Schaub has his typical mistake free game, hooking up with All-Pro wideout Andre Johnson on seven different occasions, including a late 23-yard touchdown that sealed the victory late in the fourth quarter.
Denver Broncos 24 – Cincinnati Bengals 22
While not one of the elite matchups of the week, the Bengals and the Broncos put up a fight down to the end in one of the more exciting afternoon games this week. Rookie pivot Andy Dalton was impressive in hitting the 300 yard mark for the first time in his young career. The TCU grad had the ball in Denver territory in the game’s final moments, but could not get into field goal range as the Bengals succumbed to Denver.
Dalton was able to find fellow rookie AJ Green down the field on several occasions, but the running game of the Broncos simply wore down an overmatched Bengals squad. Willis McGahee, starting in place of injured back Knownshon Moreno, pounded the ball up the middle 28 times for 101 yards and a score.
Kyle Orton, fresh off a less than impressive Monday Night performance, connected with Eric Decker on a pair of lengthy second half touchdowns, as the Broncos held on to pick up their first win of the season.
New England Patriots 35 – San Diego Chargers 21
In the premiere game of the day, the Patriots reassured the league that they are a team to be feared this season. Tom Brady continued to shred apart opposing defenses, as he went for 423 yards and three scores through the air.
But for the second straight week, the Patriots pass defense was similarly strafed; this time to the tune of 378 yards for Philip Rivers. Chad Henne had his way with the Pats secondary last week. Today, Rivers was able to connect with massive wideouts Vincent Jackson and Malcom Floyd with ease.
The NFL is surely becoming a more wide-open, passing league. The double tight-end set of Gronkowski and Hernandez were particularly impressive once again for Brady, collecting all three of his touchdown passes. With Deion Branch taking up attention on the outside, the two-TE formation was used liberally by New England to abuse San Diego’s safeties and linebackers.
Dallas Cowboys 27 – San Francisco 49ers 24 OT
The Cowboys stole their first win of the season out from under the nose of the 49ers. Dallas was led, left, and led again by Tony Romo in a wild overtime victory. Romo missed significant game time with a mysterious rib injury but came back to lead “America’s Team” to the game-tying and game-winning points.
Jon Kitna did his best to make up for Romo’s absence, leading them on an impressive third quarter touchdown drive, but the overtime heroics of the Cowboys pivot were the story of the game.
Miles Austin was the star of the game, as the sure handed receiver had nine catches for 143 yards, as well as three scores. His stretch for the goal line midway through the fourth quarter gave the Cowboys enough time to get the ball back and tie the game as time expired.
San Fran’s offense dried up in the second half, as they were unable to hold on to an early 14-0 lead.
