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lingzi
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Dec 6 2012, 07:38 AM
Post #1
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HOUSTON -- Mario Williams got to see in person just how well the Houston Texans are playing without him. Justin Blackmon Youth Jersey . Matt Schaub threw two touchdown passes, Arian Foster ran for 111 yards against Buffalos NFL-worst rush defence and the Texans beat the Bills and their former No. 1 draft pick 21-9 on Sunday. Andre Johnson caught eight passes for 118 yards and Foster scored in his fifth straight game. The Texans (7-1) clamped down on defence in the second half to put the game away. Houston kept up the best start in franchise history heading into next Sundays showdown with Chicago (7-1) at Soldier Field. "Were happy to be 7-1 at the halfway mark," Schaub said. "But were not finished. Weve got to go into a tough environment against a very good team next Sunday night." Williams had a sack and five tackles in his first game at Reliant Stadium since signing a six-year, $100 million contract with the Bills (3-5) in the off-season. The Texans made the defensive end the top overall pick in the 2006 draft and hes still Houstons career sacks leader (53). But Williams became a free agent after last season, and the Texans opted against breaking the bank to keep him and let him go. Williams said this week he was upset that Houston general manager Rick Smith never even made him an offer to stay. He was showered with boos every time he made a play on Sunday. After the game, though, he exchanged handshakes and hugs with several Texans and coach Gary Kubiak. "It was great," Williams said. "I think the biggest thing for me is if you go out and make a play and you get booed, I know Im in your heart. Thats the most important thing. If it had been quiet, then I would have felt something different. But I know youre thinking about me." Schaub won for the 10th time in 11 starts. He completed 19 of 27 passes for 268 yards. He threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Owen Daniels late in the first quarter, but Williams sacked him the second quarter and wagged his finger at his former team. "I have to look at the film," Kubiak said, "but it looked like Mario played pretty darn good." The Texans led only 7-6 at the break, mustering only 174 yards and nine first downs in the first half. They committed six penalties in the half, some of them holding calls. "We need to take a hard look at that and be critical of ourselves, because we hurt ourselves the whole first half," Schaub said. Ryan Fitzpatrick completed 14 of 17 passes in the first half, then began the third quarter with three straight incompletions. Rookie Keshawn Martin returned the ensuing punt 26 yards to the Buffalo 43 and the Texans started to seize the momentum. Schaub completed a 34-yard pass to Johnson to the Bills 4, and cornerback Aaron Williams hurt his right knee making the tackle and left the game. Foster scored two plays later, his 11th touchdown of the season. "We played very good in the second half," Kubiak said. "Offensively, we did away with the things that were hurting us." After the game, Aaron Williams left the Bills locker room on crutches. Rian Lindell kicked a 39-yard field goal with 7:41 left in the third quarter. The Bills went 2 for 11 on third down and went 0 for 3 in the red zone. "If you can hold your opponents to field goals or nothing at all once they get in the red zone, your chances of winning go up," Houston cornerback Johnathan Joseph said. The Texans were geared toward stopping Buffalos running game, and the Bills mustered only 119 yards and six first downs in the second half. Buffalo rushed for a season-low 78 yards. Fred Jackson had only 21 yards and C.J. Spiller had 39 -- 22 on one run late in the first half. "We didnt want to let them run the football," Texans defensive co-ordinator Wade Phillips said. "We had to stop the running game and I thought we did that." The Texans put the game away with a 68-yard TD drive spanning 6 1/2 minutes. Johnson caught two passes to go over 100 yards for the 40th time, and Schaub rolled right and found tight end Garret Graham for a touchdown with 11:25 remaining. Houston first-round pick Whitney Mercilus stripped the ball from Fitzpatrick in the fourth quarter and safety Quintin Demps recovered at the Texans 32. "We did a lot of things that are not good enough for us to win consistently," Kubiak said. "But yet we found a way to survive." ------ NOTES: Fitzpatrick completed 25 of 38 passes for 239 yards. ... The Bills allowed three sacks after giving up a total of eight in their first seven games. ... Jackson went over 4,000 yards rushing in his career. ... Foster went over 100 yards rushing the 20th time in his career and fourth time this year. ... Texans RB Ben Tate sat out with a hamstring injury. ... Texans improved to 39-5 under Kubiak when rushing at least 30 times. Maurice Jones-Drew Youth Jersey . -- Brandt Snedeker is earnestly polite, and he could pass for Opie Taylors big brother with his reddish-blond hair and sunny smile. Blaine Gabbert Jersey . "That was absolutely stupid. That was just throwing fuel on the fire," said Thorpe, one of two black players on the Champions Tour. "Why would you do that? He knew better." The 58-year-old Thorpe has won three times on the PGA Tour and 13 times on the Champions Tour. http://www.shopthejacksonvillejaguars.com/blaine-gabbert-jersey . Many of the hearings come as a result of the chippy Game 2 between the Ottawa Senators and New York Rangers. Senators defenceman Matt Carkner had a 20-25 minute hearing on Sunday for instigating a fight with a somewhat unsuspecting Brian Boyle of the Rangers Saturday night. Justin Blackmon Jersey . Justin Masterson handled New Yorks power-packed lineup for 6 2-3 innings and Michael Brantley hit a three-run homer as the Cleveland Indians snapped a nine-game losing streak with a 3-1 win over the Yankees on Saturday night. Blaine Gabbert Womens Jersey . Saturday night in front of 3,023 spectators in Wichita, Kansas, the Goldeyes put up three runs in the top of the eighth to come from behind and beat the Wichita Wingnuts 6-4.LOS ANGELES -- Chris Paul will be ready to play by the Los Angeles Clippers season opener on Oct. 31, barely two months after the All-Star guard had right thumb surgery. He said Friday at the teams media day that hes doing therapy daily and focusing on restoring the mobility in his wrist. "I shot a jump shot the other day and it felt like it was good and it was an air ball," Paul said. "Its all going to come back. When Im at home Im doing exercises to get ready. I just know Ill be ready for the first game. I would definitely love to play in an exhibition game, but well see how it goes." The Clippers play their first preseason game on Oct. 6 against Denver in Las Vegas. They leave six days later for a trip to China, where theyll play two games against the defending NBA champion Miami Heat. "It shows what the league expects of us," third-year coach Vinny Del Negro said about the Clippers being chosen for the exhibition trip. Pauls fellow All-Star, Blake Griffin, is fully recovered from left knee surgery on July 16 and will participate when practice opens Saturday. Hes spent time working with a coach hired by the team to improve his jumper and free throw shooting, along with that of DeAndre Jordan. "We changed some stuff to streamline and be less error-prone," Griffin said. Media day at the Clippers practice facility was more crowded than its been in years, the result of the teams flurry of off-season moves that brought in a veteran group to bolster the bench. The new additions include Lamar Odom, Jamal Crawford, Matt Barnes, Grant Hill, Ryan Hollins, and Ronny Turiaf. Odom, Barnes and Turiaf are former Lakers,, with Odom and Barnes returning for their second stints with the Clippers. Maurice Jones-Drew Womens Jersey. "Were up there with anybody," Griffin said. "We can play with anybody. With our talent and depth, we can go toe-to-toe with whoever it is." Chauncey Billups isnt ready to go yet. The guard who turned 36 earlier this week has only been cleared to take part in limited team drills as he rehabs from the left Achilles tendon surgery he had in February. That injury that ended his season early and cost him a spot on the gold medal-winning U.S. team in the London Olympics. "Everything is good. Been working my tail off ever since I got hurt," said Billups, who chose to remain in Los Angeles to rehab, which kept him away from his family. "Im not able to play 5-on-5 yet, but I will practice." Billups said he expects to return "way before" January or February. For Odom, returning to the team that drafted him in 1999 is "a little out of body. Its a little surreal." He spent four seasons with the Clippers before being traded to Miami and then joining the Lakers for two NBA championships. Odom is coming off a disastrous last season in Dallas, where he was abruptly traded by the Lakers. He was unhappy playing 50 games with the Mavericks before the team gave up on him in March. Odom said hes in a "happy place" mentally and excited about joining a Clippers team on the verge of contending for its first championship after years of languishing in the NBAs basement. "This team is built to compete against the best teams in the NBA," he said. "That should be our goal to start. Then lets learn about our strengths and weaknesses." ' ' '
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