NFL: DENVER (6-7) at HOUSTON (6-7) <h3>Broncos clinging to playoff hopes</h3> <div class="pre">Denver (6-7) at Houston (6-7) Thursday 8:15 pm EST</div> HOUSTON (Ticker) -- With their playoff hopes teetering onelimination, the Denver Broncos produced their finestperformance of the season. The Broncos must keep the momentum going when they visit theHouston Texans on Thursday night. Last week, Denver pummeled the Kansas City Chiefs, 41-7, behindfour touchdown passes from Jay Cutler, who finished 20-of-27 for244 yards with no interceptions. "I thought he played very well," said coach Mike Shanahan ofCutler. "He made some plays when he was kind of getting out ofthe pocket looking down field. ... That comes with experience.(He made) a couple big-time plays in that game that a lot ofyoung quarterbacks don't make because they want to stare at thearea they know they want to throw to. Pretty impressive." Emerging star Brandon Marshall hauled in 10 catches for 115yards and two touchdowns and rookie Selvin Young provided aperfect balance by rushing for 156 yards on 17 carries as Denversnapped a two-game losing streak. That victory may have just delayed the inevitable for theBroncos, who trail the San Diego Chargers by two games in theAFC West title chase and the Cleveland Browns by two games forthe final wild card slot. Not to mention Denver also is looking up at the Tennessee Titansand Buffalo Bills, who both hold a one-game lead over theBroncos, so the best chance to reach the postseason may come viaa division title. The Texans will provide a bit of familiarity for Denver. Houstoncoach Gary Kubiak spent 11 seasons as the Broncos' offensivecoordinator and Shanahan's son, Kyle, is the Texans' quarterbackcoach. "I'm always rooting for Houston because our relationship withGary when we're not playing them, and obviously you want to seeyour son do well," Mike Shanahan said. "You're always rootingpeople that you're familiar with and that you respect." While the Texans have the same record as Denver, they trail inevery tiebreaker category and have almost no shot to make it tothe postseason. Houston also is coming off one of its better effort of theseason. Sage Rosenfels threw three touchdown passes to lead theTexans to a 28-14 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Rosenfels is expected to start again in place of Matt Schaub,who suffered a dislocated shoulder in a 28-20 loss at Tennesseeon December 2 and sat out Sunday's victory. Houston's offense played well despite meager production fromrunning back Ron Dayne, who is battling a nagging ankle injuryand could sit out Thursday's game. Dayne rushed for 17 yards on seven carries Sunday before he wasreplaced by undrafted rookie Darius Walker, who gained 46 yardson 16 carries.
NFL: DENVER at HOUSTON <div class="pre">NFL DENVER 0 HOUSTON 0 14:53 LEFT, 1ST QTR HST BALL ON HST 31 YD LINE 1ST AND 10</div>
NFL: DENVER at HOUSTON <div class="pre">NFL TD HST SAGE ROSENFELS 5 YD RUN (KRIS BROWN KICK) DENVER 0 HOUSTON 7 11:04 LEFT, 1ST QTR</div>
NFL: DENVER at HOUSTON <div class="pre">NFL DENVER 0 HOUSTON 7 11:04 LEFT, 1ST QTR DEN BALL ON DEN 20 YD LINE 1ST AND 10</div>
NFL: DENVER at HOUSTON <div class="pre">NFL DENVER 0 HOUSTON 7 7:32 LEFT, 1ST QTR HST BALL ON HST 4 YD LINE 1ST AND 10</div>
NFL: DENVER at HOUSTON <div class="pre">NFL DENVER 0 HOUSTON 7 3:09 LEFT, 1ST QTR DEN BALL ON DEN 7 YD LINE 1ST AND 10</div>
NFL: DENVER at HOUSTON <div class="pre">NFL END, 1ST QTR 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL --- --- --- --- ----- DENVER 0 0 HOUSTON 7 7 END, 1ST QTR SCORING SUMMARY 1ST QUARTER: HST - TD, SAGE ROSENFELS 5 YD RUN (KRIS BROWN KICK), 3:56. Drive: 7 plays, 69 yards in 3:56. Key plays: Rosenfels 13-yard pass to A Johnson plus 5-yard fasemask penalty to Denver 40; Rosenfels 21-yard pass to A Johnson to Denver 19; Walker 12-yard rush to Denver 5. HOUSTON 7-0</div>
NFL: DENVER at HOUSTON <div class="pre">NFL FG DEN JASON ELAM 41 YD DENVER 3 HOUSTON 7 8:49 LEFT, 2ND QTR</div>
NFL: DENVER at HOUSTON <div class="pre">NFL DENVER 3 HOUSTON 7 8:37 LEFT, 2ND QTR HST BALL ON DEN 44 YD LINE 1ST AND 10</div>
NFL: DENVER at HOUSTON <div class="pre">NFL FG HST KRIS BROWN 41 YD DENVER 3 HOUSTON 10 7:38 LEFT, 2ND QTR</div>
NFL: DENVER at HOUSTON <div class="pre">NFL DENVER 3 HOUSTON 10 7:32 LEFT, 2ND QTR DEN BALL ON DEN 23 YD LINE 1ST AND 10</div>
NFL: DENVER at HOUSTON <div class="pre">NFL FG DEN JASON ELAM 47 YD DENVER 6 HOUSTON 10 4:31 LEFT, 2ND QTR</div>
NFL: DENVER at HOUSTON <div class="pre">NFL DENVER 6 HOUSTON 10 4:23 LEFT, 2ND QTR HST BALL ON HST 34 YD LINE 1ST AND 10</div>
NFL: DENVER at HOUSTON <div class="pre">NFL DENVER 6 HOUSTON 10 2:39 LEFT, 2ND QTR DEN BALL ON DEN 23 YD LINE 1ST AND 10</div>
NFL: DENVER at HOUSTON <div class="pre">NFL TWO MINUTE WARNING, 1ST HALF DENVER 6 HOUSTON 10 DEN BALL ON DEN 37 YD LINE 2ND AND 9</div>
NFL: DENVER at HOUSTON <div class="pre">NFL DENVER 6 HOUSTON 10 1:43 LEFT, 2ND QTR HST BALL ON HST 25 YD LINE 1ST AND 10</div>
NFL: DENVER at HOUSTON <div class="pre">NFL DENVER 6 HOUSTON 10 0:47 LEFT, 2ND QTR DEN BALL ON DEN 33 YD LINE 1ST AND 10</div>
NFL: DENVER at HOUSTON <div class="pre">NFL HALFTIME 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL --- --- --- --- ----- DENVER 0 6 6 HOUSTON 7 3 10 HALFTIME SCORING SUMMARY 1ST QUARTER: HST - TD, SAGE ROSENFELS 5 YD RUN (KRIS BROWN KICK), 3:56. Drive: 7 plays, 69 yards in 3:56. Key plays: Rosenfels 13-yard pass to A Johnson plus 5-yard fasemask penalty to Denver 40; Rosenfels 21-yard pass to A Johnson to Denver 19; Walker 12-yard rush to Denver 5. HOUSTON 7-0 2ND QUARTER: DEN - FG, JASON ELAM 41 YD, 6:11. Drive: 17 plays, 70 yards in 9:20. Key plays: Cutler 25-yard pass Scheffler to Denver 34; Cutler 7-yard pass to Marshall on 3rd-and-4 to Houston 46; Cutler 13-yard pass to Marshall on 3rd-and-8 to Houston 24. Henry 2-yard run to Houston 13. HOUSTON 7-3 HST - FG, KRIS BROWN 41 YD, 7:22. Drive: 5 plays, 20 yards in 1:11. Key plays: Davis 50-yard kickoff return to Denver 43; Rosenfels 20-yard pass to Davis to Denver 23. HOUSTON 10-3 DEN - FG, JASON ELAM 47 YD, 10:29. Drive: 8 plays, 48 yards in 3:07. Key plays: Cutler 12-yard pass to Marshall to Denver 35; Cutler 14-yard pass to Marshall to Houston 44; Cutler 17-yard pass to Marshall to Houston 27. HOUSTON 10-6</div>
NFL: DENVER at HOUSTON <div class="pre">NFL HALFTIME 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL --- --- --- --- ----- DENVER 0 6 6 HOUSTON 7 3 10 HALFTIME SCORING SUMMARY 1ST QUARTER: 3:56 HST - TD, S Rosenfels 5 Yd Run (K Brown Kick). Drive: 7 plays, 69 yards in 3:56. Key plays: Rosenfels 13-yard pass to A Johnson plus 5-yard fasemask penalty to Denver 40; Rosenfels 21-yard pass to A Johnson to Denver 19; Walker 12-yard rush to Denver 5. Houston 7-0. 2ND QUARTER: 6:11 DEN - FG, J Elam 41 Yd. Drive: 17 plays, 70 yards in 9:20. Key plays: Cutler 25-yard pass Scheffler to Denver 34; Cutler 7-yard pass to Marshall on 3rd-and-4 to Houston 46; Cutler 13-yard pass to Marshall on 3rd-and-8 to Houston 24. Henry 2-yard run to Houston 13. Houston 7-3. 7:22 HST - FG, K Brown 41 Yd. Drive: 5 plays, 20 yards in 1:11. Key plays: Davis 50-yard kickoff return to Denver 43; Rosenfels 20-yard pass to Davis to Denver 23. Houston 10-3. 10:29 DEN - FG, J Elam 47 Yd. Drive: 8 plays, 48 yards in 3:07. Key plays: Cutler 12-yard pass to Marshall to Denver 35; Cutler 14-yard pass to Marshall to Houston 44; Cutler 17-yard pass to Marshall to Houston 27. Houston 10-6. Denver - Houston End 2nd Qtr Statistics TEAM STATISTICS Denver Houston FIRST DOWNS 13 9 Rushing 3 3 Passing 8 6 Penalty 2 0 THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY 3-7-43% 2-6-33% TOTAL NET YARDS 179 155 Total offensive plays 36 27 Average gain per play 5.0 5.7 NET YARDS RUSHING 47 51 Rushing attempts 11 9 Average gain per rush 4.3 5.7 NET YARDS PASSING 132 104 Times sacked: Number-Yards 2-4 0-0 Gross passing yards 136 104 PASS ATTEMPTS-COMPLETIONS-HAD INTERCEPTED 23-15-0 18-9-0 Avg gain per pass play 5.3 5.8 PUNTS: Number and Average 2-35.0 3-37.7 PENALTIES: Number-Yards 3-15 2-10 FUMBLES: Number-Lost 0-0 0-0 TOUCHDOWNS 0 1 Rushing 0 1 Passing 0 0 Interceptions 0 0 Other (blocked kicks, etc.) 0 0 EXTRA POINTS: Made-Attempts 0-0 1-1 Kicking: Made-Attempts 0-0 1-1 Passing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0 Rushing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0 FIELD GOALS: Made-Attempts 2-2 1-1 SAFETIES 0 0 TIME OF POSSESSION 17:42 12:18 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Denver Houston RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- S YOUNG 5 29 5.8 20 0 D WALKER 6 25 4.2 12 0 T HENRY 6 18 3.0 9 0 K WALTER 2 21 10.5 13 0 S ROSENFEL 1 5 5.0 5 1 PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- J CUTLER 15-23-136 0 0 25 S ROSENFEL 9-18-104 0 0 21 Sacked-Yards Lost: J CUTLER 2-4. Sacked-Yards Lost: None RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- B MARSHALL 9 83 9.2 17 0 A JOHNSON 3 49 16.3 21 0 S YOUNG 2 0 0.0 5 0 O DANIELS 2 24 12.0 15 0 T SCHEFFLE 1 25 25.0 25 0 A DAVIS 1 20 20.0 20 0 G MARTINEZ 1 17 17.0 17 0 K WALTER 1 6 6.0 6 0 J WALKER 1 9 9.0 9 0 V LEACH 1 3 3.0 3 0 D GRAHAM 1 2 2.0 2 0 D WALKER 1 2 2.0 2 0 KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------- J ELAM 0/0 2/2 K BROWN 1/1 1/1 Dist.: 41 47 Dist.: 41</div>
