HOUSTON KNOCKS DENVER'S SOCKS OFF, 45-10 

In the late 1960's, hippie Jerry Rubin authored a book called 'Steal This
Book'. The game tapes from this game should be labelled 'Burn These Tapes'. 

In a game that wasn't as close as the final score indicated, the Houston
Texans dominated from start to almost the finish, allowing the Broncos one
field goal until the score was 45-3. Only in the final minutes did the
Broncos mount any semblance of a drive, scoring a touchdown on a Brian Griese
to Nate Washington 30-yard hookup in the final two minutes of the contest to
cut the final score to 45-10. 

But it was all Houston until those final few minutes. 

The Texans scored twice in the first quarter, on 69-yard and 70-yard drives,
sandwiched around a Bronco three-and-out. The first of six Houston touchdowns
came on a 24-yard connection between Eli Manning and Roddy White of 24-yards,
with Manning completing four of four on the possession, for 62 yards. The
Broncos first possession turned ugly at the very start, with Lendale White
being thrown for a three-yard loss on the first play, and Griese being sacked
by Albert Haynesworth for a seven-yard loss on the second. Facing a third and
20, the Broncos opted for a draw play, figuring to punt it back and play
defense.  

Ha. 

The Texans second touchdown came on a one-yard Fred Jackson dive over the
pile, with the drive starting with a Manning to Mark Clayton 46-yard bomb
deep across the middle. 14-0 just that quickly. With little to no pash rush
pressure all day, Manning was able to complete 13 of 15 for 179 yards in the
game.  

The Broncos didn't even get a chance to play defense on the third Houston
touchdown, which came on the first play of the second quarter, when two
holding calls against guard Nick Cole - who literally and figuratively had
his hands full of Albert Haynesworth all day - helped turn a first and 10
into a third and 27. Griese's short pass was jumped by Cortland Finnegan, who
returned the interception 11 yards for a quick pick-six, and a 21-0 Houston
lead. Cole was called for three holding penalties against Haynesworth, and
could have been called for ten. Samson Satele was called for another, as the
Broncos had a tough time blocking the new and improved Haynesworth.  

Nothing the Broncos tried worked, as the Broncos surrendered the ball on
their next possession on a Delanie Walker fumble near midfield, with Willie
Parker banging it in from a yard out to give Houston a 28-0 lead midway
through the second quarter. 

The Broncos finally mounted a drive of sorts, moving from their own 32 to the
Houston 32, from where Mason Crosby put the Broncos only points of the
contest until the final two minutes on the board with a 49-yard wind-assisted
kick. Another Mason field goal, of 53-yards in the final seconds of the half,
aftetr the Texans tried to run out the clock on fourth down from their own 34
and turned the ball over on downs, failed, and the half mercifully ended with
the Broncos on the short end 28-3. 

It didn't stay that way for long. Griese's first pass of the second half was
picked off by Kerry Rhodes, who returned the interception 47 yards before
being dragged down from behind at the Bronco five yard line. Manning's
connection with Roddy White for their second scoring linkup of the day made
it 35-3. It became 38-3 after the Broncos held onto the ball long enough to
have a three-and-out, and then another Griese pick - this time by Corey
Webster who returned it to the Denver three - quickly gave the Texans yet
another touchdown, with Ryan Torain banging it in from two yards out on
second down.  

45-3. Ouch. 

The Broncos pushed their only touchdown across when Brian Griese connected
with Nate Washington from 30 yards out with just 1:42 remaining in the game.
Griese completed four of four for 62 yards on the possession against the
Houston scrubs, but it was far too little, too late. 

Bronco head coach Hank Sienzant was at a loss to explain the game in the
Bronco locker room after the game. "They have a good team. They have a very
good team. We will have to look at our squad and determine what needs fixing.
We felt we were better than this result, and we look forward to getting a
chance to prove it later this year." Denver meets Houston in the final game
of the season, next time in Houston. 

But for now, the Broncos travel to Cleveland to lick their wounds and face
the much-improved 3-2 Cleveland Browns - a team Denver defeated last year
twice, but from appearances, should handle this edition of the Broncos pretty
easily. Houston is still undefeated at 5-0, and gets to face another winless
team in 0-5 San Diego next week.