Houston Texans 24, Philadelphia Eagles 34 (Thursday Night) - It was your typical Houston Texans game: [Insert opponent here] jumped out to a big lead of [insert deficeit here] when the Texans made their comeback in the [insert quarter here]. On 3rd and [insert long number of yardage here], the [opponent] converted then [insert player here] scored the go-ahead touchdown. The Texans had their chance but the Texans' [insert side of the ball here] couldn't [convert/stop the opponent], and the [opponent] escape with a comeback win.
In this case, the Philadelphia Eagles jumped to a 17-3 lead before Arian Foster led the 2nd Quarter comeback. The Texans were up 24-20 in the 4th quarter when Michael Vick converted a 3rd-and-19 with a 19-yard pass to Brent Celek. The Texans offense couldn't respond, and the Eagles added another touchdown for breathing room. At 5-7, the Texans would need to win the rest of their games and get help to win the AFC South - the only way any AFC South team is getting to the playoffs.
Jacksonville Jaguars 17, Tennessee Titans 6 - The implosion in Tennessee continues as the Titans are mired in offensive ineptitude. It's been 14 quarters of football since Tennessee has scored an offensive touchdown. Kerry Collins proved to be not much better than Rusty Smith as he threw two interceptions and completed only 43.8% of his passes. Chris Johnson had another bad day with 53 yards on 13 carries.
In truth, the tone was set early as the Titans struggled in their opening drive. When the Jaguars took the field, they drove 77 yards in 12 plays - 11 of those rushes for 71 yards. Maurice Jones-Drew dominated the day with 31 carries for 186 yards as Jacksonville bullied the Titans around. Tennessee's in an unenviable position as they take on Indianapolis on Thursday night. The Jaguars appear to be in control of the AFC South with four games to go.
Dallas Cowboys 38, Indianapolis Colts 35 (OT) - At first, it looked like Dallas would dominate the Colts. Indianapolis had no answer for the Cowboys rushing offense while Peyton Manning threw two early interceptions - one returned by a touchdown by Orlando Scandrick. However, the Colts would not die as Manning tossed touchdown passes to Pierre Garcon and Reggie Wayne.
Dallas would gain more breathing room with another Manning pick six, returned by Sean Lee, but the Colts would claw back with a Javarris James rushing touchdown and a blocked punt. Jon Kitna would find Jason Witten for another touchdown, and James would score for the Colts, after tearing through the Dallas defense, with 29 seconds left to send it to overtime.
In overtime, Manning would throw his 4th interception of the game, and 11th in the past three games, to set up the Cowboys in field goal territory. After Tashard Choice set him up, David Buehler drilled the 38-yard field goal to send Indianapolis to their sixth loss, third in a row. The Cowboys win wasn't without a big loss - rookie WR Dez Bryant suffered a season-ending broken ankle.
UP-TO-THE-SECOND AFC SOUTH STANDINGS
Jacksonville Jaguars - 7-5 (3-1) :: Remaining: OAK, @IND, WSH, @HOU
Indianapolis Colts - 6-6 (1-2) :: @TEN, JAX, OAK, TEN
Houston Texans - 5-7 (2-2) :: BAL, @TEN, @DEN, JAX
Tennessee Titans - 5-7 (1-2) :: IND, HOU, @KC, @IND
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