GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NFL: HOUSTON (3-5) at OAKLAND (2-5)

NFL: HOUSTON (3-5) at OAKLAND (2-5)

<h3>Injury-riddled Texans to square off with slumping Raiders</h3>



Houston (3-5) at Oakland (2-5) Sunday 4:15 pm EDT


OAKLAND, California (Ticker) - What once appeared to be apromising season is unraveling for the Houston Texans.

Reeling from a three-game losing streak, the Texans face anotherstruggling team in the Oakland Raiders on Sunday.


Injuries to key offensive players and a crumbling defense havebeen the culprits to the recent spiral for Houston, which hasallowed 110 points in its recent skid.


Even more disturbing for the Texans is the fact that they havefallen behind by at least three touchdowns in the three losses,and only a furious fourth-quarter comeback from a 32-7 deficitmade it a close defeat against Tennessee on October 21.

In last week's 35-10 loss at San Diego, the Chargers bolted to a14-0 first-quarter lead and 35-3 cushion at the half, gettingtouchdowns on a fumble recovery and interception return.

"It's about as bad as it can be," Houston coach Gary Kubiaksaid. "We look like a tired, slow football team out there rightnow. The mistakes that we're making on a week-to-week basis,they're just unacceptable."


Houston quarterback Matt Schaub has been knocked out of past twogames with injuries, including a helmet-to-helmet blow by SanDiego linebacker Stephen Cooper last week.


Schaub still was suffering from headaches Monday and was listedas day-to-day by Kubiak.


Wide receiver Andre Johnson has sat out six straight games witha knee injury and running back Ahman Green was a late scratchagainst the Chargers due to an ailing knee.


Oakland also is mired in a three-game losing streak, although ithas suffered back-to-back narrow road defeats at Tennessee(13-9) and Kansas City (12-10).


After accounting for five touchdowns in a 35-17 victory over theMiami Dolphins on September 30, Daunte Culpepper has not provento be the answer at quarterback, helping the offense generatejust 33 points points in the last three games.


Culpepper was a mere 15-of-32 for 167 yards and an interceptionin last weekend's loss to the Titans, and he could be back onthe bench if Josh McCown gets healthy or the Raiders decide tosee what they have in No. 1 overall pick JaMarcus Russell.

The running game isn't helping much. LaMont Jordan has gained ameager 87 yards on 41 carries in his past three games andmanaged just 16 yards in 12 rushes vs. Tennessee.


One of the few bright spots has been kicker SebastianJanikowski, who last week set the franchise record for madefield goals and has booted eight in a row after starting theseason missing four of his first five.

 

NFL: HOUSTON at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">NFL
HOUSTON 0
OAKLAND 0 14:54 LEFT, 1ST QTR

OAK BALL ON OAK 19 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: HOUSTON at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">NFL
HOUSTON 0
OAKLAND 0 13:54 LEFT, 1ST QTR

HST BALL ON HST 15 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: HOUSTON at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">NFL HOUSTON 0
OAKLAND 0 10:04 LEFT, 1ST QTR</div>

 

NFL: HOUSTON at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">NFL TD HST
AHMAN GREEN 8 YD RUN
(KRIS BROWN KICK)

HOUSTON 7
OAKLAND 0 6:46 LEFT, 1ST QTR</div>

 

NFL: HOUSTON at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">NFL
HOUSTON 7
OAKLAND 0 6:37 LEFT, 1ST QTR

OAK BALL ON OAK 24 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: HOUSTON at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">NFL
HOUSTON 7
OAKLAND 0 0:56 LEFT, 1ST QTR

HST BALL ON HST 36 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: HOUSTON at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">NFL END, 1ST QTR 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
HOUSTON 7 7
OAKLAND 0 0 END, 1ST QTR

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST QUARTER: HST - TD, AHMAN GREEN 8 YD RUN (KRIS BROWN
KICK), 8:14. Drive: 12 plays, 84
yards in 7:08. Key plays: Rosenfels
14-yard run to Houston 30;
Rosenfels 53-yard pass to Green on
3rd-and-18 to Oakland 14; Rosenfels
2-yard run on 4th-and-1 to Oakland
3. HOUSTON 7-0</div>

 

NFL: HOUSTON at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">NFL HOUSTON 7
OAKLAND 0 14:55 LEFT, 2ND QTR</div>

 

NFL: HOUSTON at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">NFL
HOUSTON 7
OAKLAND 0 14:12 LEFT, 2ND QTR

OAK BALL ON OAK 4 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: HOUSTON at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">NFL
HOUSTON 7
OAKLAND 0 3:24 LEFT, 2ND QTR

HST BALL ON HST 30 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: HOUSTON at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">CORRECTION

NFL
HOUSTON 7
OAKLAND 0 9:24 LEFT, 2ND QTR

HST BALL ON HST 30 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: HOUSTON at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">NFL HOUSTON 7
OAKLAND 0 5:08 LEFT, 2ND QTR</div>

 

NFL: HOUSTON at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">NFL
HOUSTON 7
OAKLAND 0 5:00 LEFT, 2ND QTR

OAK BALL ON OAK 9 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: HOUSTON at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">NFL
HOUSTON 7
OAKLAND 0 4:51 LEFT, 2ND QTR

HST BALL ON HST 16 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: HOUSTON at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">NFL TD HST
RON DAYNE 14 YD RUN
(KRIS BROWN KICK)

HOUSTON 14
OAKLAND 0 4:02 LEFT, 2ND QTR</div>

 

NFL: HOUSTON at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">NFL
HOUSTON 14
OAKLAND 0 3:56 LEFT, 2ND QTR

OAK BALL ON OAK 30 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: HOUSTON at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">NFL TWO MINUTE WARNING, 1ST HALF

HOUSTON 14
OAKLAND 0

OAK BALL ON HST 45 YD LINE
2ND AND 8</div>

 

NFL: HOUSTON at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">NFL MISSED FG OAK
SEBASTIAN JANIKOWSKI 64 YD ATTEMPT HIT RIGHT UPRIGHT

HOUSTON 14
OAKLAND 0 1:10 LEFT, 2ND QTR</div>

 

NFL: HOUSTON at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">NFL
HOUSTON 14
OAKLAND 0 1:10 LEFT, 2ND QTR

HST BALL ON OAK 46 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>