December 30th, 2007 
Stephen Rhodes 
Posted in 
On most Sundays, you wouldn’t expect the Houston Texans to win a game because of in part their special teams play. Perhaps that’s why the phrase “any given Sunday” is appropriate. Texans’ wide receiver/kick returner Andre’ Davis returned two kickoffs for touchdowns, leading the Texans to a big win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The first quarter was rather quiet, save for the 22-yard tochdown pass thrown by Jaguars quarterback Quinn Gray to Reggie Williams. Three seconds into the second quarter, Texans running back Ron Dayne ran into the end zone from 2 yards out, tying the game at 7. Houston would take the lead 14-7 with about 3 1/2 minutes left in the half on a short TD pass from Sage Rosenfels to tight end Owen Daniels. Jacksonville would tie the game at 14 on a 6-yard Gray to Ernest Wilford TD pass with about 30 ticks left on the clock in the half. But Houston’s Davis would return his first of 2 kickoff returns for a touchdown, giving Houston a 21-14 lead going into halftime.
Davis would return another kickoff for a touchdown 13 seconds into the third quarter, giving the Texans a 28-14 advantage. Roughly 7 minutes later, Houston RB Ron Dayne scored his 2nd TD of the day, enlarging the Texans’ lead to 35-14. This lead would hold up till the final gun. Houston’s Rosenfels had a mediocre game, going 11-for 18 for 128 yards with a touchdown and an interception; Dayne led Houston with 88 yards rushing and 2 TD’s, with Darius Walker rushing for 86 and a score. WR Andre Johnson would lead all Texans receivers with 6 receptions for 74 yards.
Quinn Gray acquitted himself well, going 25-for-39 for 302 yards and 4 TD passes and just as importantly – zero INT’s. Greg Jones led all Jags rushers with 71 yards on 14 carries; WR Matt Jones had one of – if not – his best game of his young career, catching 8 balls for 138 yards and a TD. Ernest Wilford caught 6 balls for 58 yards and 2 TD’s. Today’s win put Houston at the .500 mark (8-8) for the first time in franchise history, while Jacksonville (11-5) will play their first playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday, January 5.
