Oct 7, 2008 - 1:12 PM
4 shoutsMIAMI (2-2) AT HOUSTON (0-4), 1:00 pm EDT
HOUSTON (Ticker) -- Tony Sparano knew he would face a lot of challenges in his first season. Telling his team to guard against a letdown probably was not among them.
The surprising Miami Dolphins take aim at their third consecutive victory when they visit the winless Houston Texans on Sunday.
Sparano, in his first season as a head coach, already has doubled the Dolphins' win total from 2007 with shocking upsets of the New England Patriots and San Diego Chargers - two teams that played in the AFC championship game last season.
Yet coming off a 1-15 season, Sparano knows his team cannot afford to get carried away by the recent success.
"No, don't get too hyped up. A lot of people want to pat you on the back when you do good," Sparano said. "When you don't do good, they want to bring you down or they want to kick you in the butt.
"As I told this team, the big thing right now is just from our end, don't get caught up in all of that stuff. We've got to keep a level head."
The failure of backup quarterback Sage Rosenfels to keep a level head cost the Texans what appeared to be a sure victory over the Indianapolis Colts last weekend.
Houston had run off 27 unanswered points to take a 27-10 lead, but a pair of fumbles by Rosenfels played a huge part in the Colts scoring 21 points in the final four minutes to snatch away at 31-27 victory.
"I made mistakes today," Rosenfels said. "All of our team played great football today, played winning football and I made those mistakes that cost football games. There is no reason we should have lost that game."
Rosenfels started in place of Matt Schaub, who was a last-minute scratch after spending the previous night in a hospital with a viral infection.
Rookie Steve Slaton rushed 16 times for 93 yards and two touchdowns and Andre Johnson caught nine passes for 131 yards and a score for the Texans, who should have Schaub back for Sunday's game.
Defensively, Houston must prepare for Miami's "Wildcat" offense, which features running back Ronnie Brown taking a direct snap from center.
Brown had registered back-to-back 100-yard efforts and scored five touchdowns in his last two games. Quarterback Chad Pennington has been outstanding in the two victories, completing 39-of-49 passes for 454 yards and a touchdown.
"You have to give them a ton of credit for what they've went and done here in the last two weeks," Texans coach Gary Kubiak said. "They've found something with their football team that's giving people fits, and it's our turn to deal with it this week."
From the Bleachers
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-
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MIAMI: 28
HOUSTON: 29
Final
Oct 12 4:09 PM -
NFL
TD HST
MATT SCHAUB 3 YD RUN
(TWO-POINT RUN CONVERSION FAILED)
MIAMI 28
HOUSTON 29 0:03 LEFT, 4TH QTR
Oct 12 4:06 PM -
NFL
TD MIA
RONNIE BROWN 6 YD RUN
(DAN CARPENTER KICK)
MIAMI 28
HOUSTON 23 1:45 LEFT, 4TH QTR
Oct 12 3:51 PM -
NFL
FG HST
KRIS BROWN 42 YD
MIAMI 21
HOUSTON 23 6:04 LEFT, 4TH QTR
Oct 12 3:36 PM -
MIAMI: 21
HOUSTON: 20
End of 3rd
Oct 12 3:07 PM -
NFL
TD MIA
RICKY WILLIAMS 5 YD RUN
(DAN CARPENTER KICK)
MIAMI 21
HOUSTON 20 6:18 LEFT, 3RD QTR
Oct 12 2:50 PM -
NFL
TD HST
ANDRE JOHNSON 12 YD PASS FROM MATT SCHAUB
(KRIS BROWN KICK)
MIAMI 14
HOUSTON 20 10:00 LEFT, 3RD QTR
Oct 12 2:44 PM -
MIAMI: 14
HOUSTON: 13
Halftime
Oct 12 2:20 PM -
NFL
TD HST
JACOBY JONES 70 YD PUNT RETURN
(KRIS BROWN KICK)
MIAMI 14
HOUSTON 13 5:24 LEFT, 2ND QTR
Oct 12 2:04 PM -
NFL
FG HST
KRIS BROWN 33 YD
MIAMI 14
HOUSTON 6 9:07 LEFT, 2ND QTR
Oct 12 1:55 PM -
NFL
TD MIA
PATRICK COBBS 80 YD PASS FROM CHAD PENNINGTON
(DAN CARPENTER KICK)
MIAMI 14
HOUSTON 3 11:37 LEFT, 2ND QTR
Oct 12 1:47 PM -
MIAMI: 7
HOUSTON: 3
End of 1st
Oct 12 1:34 PM -
NFL
FG HST
KRIS BROWN 27 YD
MIAMI 7
HOUSTON 3 1:02 LEFT, 1ST QTR
Oct 12 1:29 PM -
-
NFL
TD MIA
PATRICK COBBS 53 YD PASS FROM CHAD PENNINGTON
(DAN CARPENTER KICK)
MIAMI 7
HOUSTON 0 6:08 LEFT, 1ST QTR
Oct 12 1:19 PM -
theu
Hey Dolfans!
I'm a Miami fan and I've helped with the launch of a new company that will help provide other sports fans LIVE gamecasts to mobile and online users worldwide!
Can't watch this Sunday's game? No problem! Simply follow the game LIVE online or on your mobile phone anywhere for FREE with G-SNAP! Best of all, updates are automatic. There is no need to refresh!
MIAMI at HOUSTON: SUN, 10/12 @ 1:00pm Eastern Time
WWW: http://www.gsnap.com/239
MOBILE: http://m.gsnap.com/239
I will supply the play by play via text descriptions (and possibly pics) for Sunday's game for those who can't be near a TV. Even if you are near a TV, join us anyway and interact with me, other Dolphin fans, and possibly some Texan fans! It's extremely easy to create a login.
Think you can do a better job than the Dolfans at sportscasting the game? Feel free to create your own "Snapcast" and provide other Texan fans YOUR play by play! See you on Sunday!
Oct 10 2:42 PM
