Tennessee Titans 0, Houston Texans 20 - The biggest surprise on Sunday had to be how dominant the woeful Houston defense was. A defense that was on par to be the statistically worst defense in history pitched, arguably, the best defensive day in franchise history.
Glover Quin, he of Q-Tip and The Meltdown at the Meadowlands fame, intercepted the first three passes of his career which set a franchise record. Brian Cushing regained his 2009 Defensive Rookie of the Year form with seven tackles (four for a loss) and two passes defensed. Offensively, Arian Foster had 218 all-purpose yards, including 143 on the ground.
Of course, all the talk centered around the Andre Johnson-Cortland Finnegan fight in the 4th quarter. As I said on Battle Red Blog, I think Johnson will see a big fine ($50,000 neighborhood), but I think he won't be suspended due to his post-game contrition and past exemplery behavior. For Finnegan, I think he'll be missing next Sunday's game against the Jaguars. The guys at Battle Red Blog will have all the breaking Johnson fallout as more news becomes available.
The Titans, now on a four game losing streak, look like they're on the canvas with a referee counting to 10 while the Texans showed they have a lot of fight left in them, pun intended.
Jacksonville Jaguars 20, New York Giants 24 - For one half, the Jaguars looked like they could do no wrong. Jacksonville had a 17-6 lead behind 231 yards of offense and three scoring drives longer than 70-plus yards against the number two defense in the NFL. New York, however, would flip the script in the second half.
The Giants defense held Jacksonville to 92 yards and forced two turnovers. Eli Manning found Mario Manningham for a touchdown, and, with three minutes to go, Manning found Kevin Boss for the 32-yard game-winning touchdown pass. The loss sent Jacksonville to 6-5 and tightened up the AFC South race.
San Diego Chargers 36, Indianapolis Colts 14 - All good things must come to an end. Whether or not you're a Colts fan, you have to marvel at seven straight seasons of 12-plus regular season wins. It is a mark that may never be reached again. After being embarrassed on Sunday night, the Indianapolis streak is over, and the AFC South is going to be a dogfight.
While Indy's 12-win reliability may have ended, San Diego's late season run/make Peyton Manning look incredibly average reliability still holds true. The Chargers won their fourth straight game, heading to December where they are 14-0 over their last 14 December games, by intercepting Manning four times in their 36-14 victory. Two of those interceptions were of the pick-six variety, and the Chargers roll back to San Diego with a clean sweep of the AFC South.
UP-TO-THE-SECOND AFC SOUTH STANDINGS
Jacksonville Jaguars - 6-5 (2-1)
Indianapolis Colts - 6-5 (1-2)
Houston Texans - 5-6 (2-2)
Tennessee Titans - 5-6 (1-1)
Filed under: