Patriots 31, Jaguars 20

Quick thoughts:

*See how long it goes, but the Pats' are starting to resemble the 98-99 Yankees, in that they're starting to win close games the same way. Those Yanks had strong enough starting pitching to keep them in most games, timely hitting from the fifth inning on, and a suffocating bullpen anchored by Rivera. The Pats have Brady, who keeps the them close enough even when the opposition is scoring early; a smart and opportunistic (if aging) defense that forces the other team to grind everything out; and a knack on both sides of the ball for that one killer, fourth-quarter play. Brady to Watson (the seocnd time) was one dagger; Harrison's interception was, on defense, like the knock-out blow you keep expecting that finally comes. New England's D came within a few inches intercepting Garrard earlier; when Harrison hauled one in, it had the smack of the inevitable.

*Much was made, before and during the game, of the Jaguars' "ball control," their so-called ability to keep the Pats' offense off the field and mile the clock. Be careful of your strategy! The Jags did keep Brady on the sidelines (for awhile, it seemed as though the Pats would be the very first team in NFL history to lose without either turning the ball over or punting once--think about it), but in the end this was more a matter of necessity than strategy. It was clear early on that the Pats' would allow the Jags all sorts of underneath stuff, even on third down, in order to prevent anything deep. (It is telling that Garrard's one long completion came on fourth down, and on a broken play, when a Jags receiver seemed to appear trailing a puff of smoke behind him.) Once the Patriots went ahead by 11, the Jags' grind-it-out strategy was not only obsolete, it was counterproductive. No one, with the possible exception of Bill Parcells, understands the nuances of the clock as well as Bill Belichick, and when the fourth quarter went below ten minutes Belickick must have realized the game was all but over. It is one thing to milk the clock when you want to; yet another when you have no other choice. With Brady near-flawless, could the Jags drive the length of the field twice? Unlikely--and with the Pats (as they were against Eli last week) suddenly comfortable blitzing, impossible.

*That said, this Jags team is a comer. Consider the poor Houston Texans. As of 4 pm ET last Sunday, five teams remained in the playoffs. Three were from the AFC South: Indy, Jacksonville, Tennessee. Furthermore, injuries aside, the Texans will now have two games apiece, every season, vs. Peyton Manning, Vince Young, and David Garrard. What will count as in-division success? 3-3? 2-4?

Texans' Ryans NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year

So we got that, at least.

Texans 27, Colts 24

The biggest upset of the year, we're told.

I'm here to give the devil his due. Mario Williams played well. Ron Dayne, whom the Texans would not have touched had they selected Reggie Bush, was a man on fire: 153 yards, two TDs.

But. But.

Vince Young: two TD passes, one run. The Titans are about ready to make the play-offs after starting 0-5.

Matt Leinart: a brisk, efficient day before being removed for injury: one TD pass.

Reggie Bush: 130 yards, one TD.

Yearrgh.

Jeff Bagwell retires

Details here.

A Hall-of-Famer?

Yes.

And consider this scenario:

a) Bagwell goes in on the second ballot

b) Craig Biggio hits number 3,000 this season and retires

c) Joe Torre retires

End result? Bagwell, Biggio and Torre all go in together in 2012.

Reggie, Vince, Matt, and, er, Mario

Reggie Bush: 125 yards receiving, plus a touchdown. 162 yards of total offense in a thrashing of the formerly hot team of the week, the Dallas Cowboys.

Vince Young: a 39-yard gallop for a game-winning touchdown in overtime. To beat the Texans.

Matt Leinart: Two touchdown passes in a victory over Seattle.

Mario Williams. Three tackles in a losing effort. To Vince Young's Titans.

No: I'm never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, ever letting this go.

Vince Bowl: One day remaining

Simmons checks in, of course.

Money quote:

Hard to believe those reports that the David Carr era is wrapping up in Houston. It seemed so promising there for ... actually, wait, there wasn't a single moment when it ever seemed promising. Scratch that. Anyway, can you think of a worse turn of events for Texan fans than Reggie Bush's fantasy breakout week happening on the tail end of back-to-back "All Vince Young does is win football games!" weeks? Now they're about to get their butts kicked this week by the franchise that ditched them (the Titans) and the rookie QB they passed on (Young). On the bright side, if there's ever a week for somebody to hold up a "BRING BACK CAPERS" sign, this is it. I have my fingers crossed.

If I were at the game, I'd bring that sign

Four days to Vince

Outside of the New England Patriots (no front-runner here; I've been a fan since the days of Jim Plunkett and Randy Vataha) and my fantasy team (I benched Reggie Bush this past Sunday, a metaphor for my season), the NFL regular season is something I can take or leave. The exceptions are games that hold a certain intrigue, either of greatness or something else: two undefeated teams meeting in late October, a match-up between an established All-Pro quarterback and up-and-comer (Peyton v. Carson last Thanksgiving, for instance) or a late-season divisional match between bitter rivals (the Giants and Cowboys this past Sunday).

Then there is this Sunday's match between the Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans.

As all the world knows, last January first, the Houston Texans lost 17-14 to the San Francisco 49ers, enough for a 2-14 record, enough for the worst record in the league and the first pick in one of the most talent-rich drafts in years. At Buffalo Wild Wings, basically the pulse of the Houston sports scene, the reaction of the assembled Texas faithful was unashamed joy, for it had been assumed for months that, with the first pick in the draft, the Texans would select the All-Everything tailback from USC, Heisman trophy winner Reggie Bush.

But a few funny things happened on the way to the coronation . . .

The first was the Rose Bowl, aka the Vince Bowl, in which Texas quarterback (and, by the way, Houston native) Vince Young ran over, around and through a USC team thought by many to be the greatest of all time. This was followed by Young's decision to leave school early and enter the draft. This in turn was followed by a huge groundswell of support for drafting young and jettisoning the incumbent QB, the talented but perennially underperforming David Carr. Young all but begged to be drafted by his hometown team.

What happened then everyone knows. At the apparent urging of incoming head coach Gary Kubiak, the Texans stuck with Carr, deciding to pay him an eight million-dollar bonus rather than let him go. Then, in the far more controversial move, they decided to bypass Bush as well, in favor of project defensive end Mario Williams.

Enter bedlam.

Seventy-five percent of the way through the season, the results are here. Mario Williams, after struggling early, has been a serviceable and improving defensive player. Reggie Bush has been good if not great, and provided what may have been a breakout game: four touchdowns vs. the 49ers. Right now, the edge would go to Reggie, but not by much, my previous huffing and puffing notwithstanding.

But all of a sudden, this is not the comparison/contrast theme of the season.

All of a sudden, we are back to Vince v. David.

The Texans are 4-8. In Carr's last two games, the Texans are 1-1. Carr has zero touchdown passes. Last week, he managed somehow to throw for negative five yards (Astro-Girl asked: "Was he facing the wrong way?") and lose two fumbles--and this was the game the Texans won. The Texans two touchdowns were almost entirely the work of special teams; for both TDs combined, the Carr needed to drive a total of five yards. The word coming out of Reliant Park is of Quarterback Guru Kubiak admitting to himself that he sorely misjudged what Carr was capable of; the rumor is that the Texans may use what will once again be a high draft pick for whatever quarterback will be available (Brady Quinn? Troy Smith?), even if doing so would be a tacit admission that he (and apparently last year's on-the-way-out Charlie Casserly) made a terrible blunder by not selecting Vince Young.

How has Vince performed? He has won one more game that Carr has while starting three fewer. The past two weeks, using both his arm and legs, he led the Titans to two multiple-touchdown comebacks against the Giants and Colts. He became the first quarterback ever to defeat quarterback brothers on consecutive weekends (the Mannings, of course). He has picked up right where he left off in Pasadena, and become a human hi-light reel.

And oh, yes, Young has done all this while playing for the Tennessee Titans, aka the former Houston Oilers. If any team is the Texans' archenemy, it is the Titans, a fact based in the person of Bud Adams, the person so despised that Houston refused to build the Oilers a new playpen in the nineties, almost in the hopes that Adams would take his team elsewhere and allow the city to start fresh with an expansion team. Adams never misses an opportunity to stick it to his old hometown; rumor was, it was spite alone behind Adams's command to GM Floyd Reece to draft Young, despite head coach Jeff Fisher and offensive coordinator Norm Chow's preference for Matt Leinart. (No one in Houston will forget Adams actually flying Young into Houston for a press conference the day after the draft, the ultimate Screw You moment if ever there was.) It the rumor is true, this may turn out to be a classic case of the right thing done for the wrong reason, for at the moment, Young, Fisher, Chow and the Titans offense seem an ideal fit.

And. And this Sunday, Young and the Titans return to Houston--to his home town, to a sea of burnt-orange Longhorn jerseys, to tens of thousands of absolutely furious Texan fans--in order to face the Texans.



Occasionally, a football game has as many subplots as an episode of "Seinfeld," circa 1994. This game is one of them.