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Texans break out with 34-7 win over Seattle

Dec 13, 2009 - 11:09 PM By KRISTIE RIEKEN AP Sports Writer

HOUSTON(AP) -- Andre Johnson and Matt Schaub showed just how good coach Gary Kubiak's offense can be when the Houston Texans don't make silly mistakes.

Now they're hoping to keep it up and help Kubiak remain in charge of this team.

Johnson had a season-high 193 yards receiving and two touchdowns to lead the Texans (6-7) to a 34-7 win over the Seattle Seahawks (5-8) on Sunday to break a four-game losing streak that had some calling for Kubiak's firing.

"There's a lot of rumors and things that get said and you don't want to see anybody lose their jobs," Johnson said. "We were just all determined that we were going to go out there and give it up for each other. For every coach, every player we were just going to go out and lay it all on the line."

Schaub had 336 yards passing before halftime and finished with 365 yards and two touchdowns. His first-half yardage was the second-most in a first half this season in the NFL.

"That's the most explosive half of football I've ever been around," said Kubiak, who led Denver's offense when it won two Super Bowls. "I've never been around that. That's what we're capable of and if we find a way to bottle that someday for four quarters, it will be a real happy day."

The defense did its job too, returning an interception for a touchdown and hurrying and harassing Matt Hasselbeck into a sub-par performance. The quarterback had three fumbles, was sacked three times, twice by Mario Williams, and taken down numerous other times and finished with 247 yards.

Hasselbeck injured his right shoulder on a hard hit by DeMeco Ryans on Seattle's first series of the second half. He returned on the next series and finished the game.

"I'm not happy at all with the way our offensive line is playing and we are going to take an extremely hard look at that over the next two days," Seahawks coach Jim Mora said. "I can't promise you there won't be changes. If there are changes that need to be made, we'll make them, even at this late date in the season."

Schaub cooled off in the second half and Houston's offense didn't score another touchdown, but Hasselbeck and the Seahawks couldn't get anything going and the Texans maintained their comfortable lead.

Schaub's only big mistake came in the third quarter when he was intercepted by Marcus Trufant. It didn't hurt the Texans though as Bernard Pollard picked off Hasselbeck two plays later and returned it 70 yards for a touchdown to stretch the lead to 34-7.

Johnson got things going for Houston, grabbing a 64-yard touchdown reception on the game's first play. It was the first time Houston had scored on the opening play of the game.

"It was big for us to come out and start the way we did," said Schaub, who set Houston's franchise record for yards passing in a season with 3,814. "The big play to Andre really set the tone for the game. I think that gets everyone into it. Not only does it get us off to a good start offensively, it gives the defense a lot of emotion, and a lot of adrenaline to play."

Johnson's second score came on a 17-yard reception in the second quarter that pushed the lead to 24-0.

"The first half, he tore us up, starting with the first play," Mora said of Johnson. "We were playing corners coverage and he just ran by our guy. We rolled up on him and they threw it elsewhere, we put him in single coverage and he won. He's an outstanding player and Matt Schaub is doing a tremendous job of getting the ball to him."

Moats added a touchdown on a 4-yard run in the first quarter in Houston's first game since Steve Slaton was put on injured reserve.

Houston's only problems in the first half came in the kicking game where Kris Brown had a short field goal blocked and missed from 48 yards just before halftime.

Brown made one from 29 yards in the first quarter and one from 31 in the third.

The Seahawks were horrible for most of the first half and the Texans had outgained them 311-25 until their last drive before halftime. They didn't get a first down until an unnecessary roughness penalty on Ryans with about 11 minutes left in the second quarter.

"I'm more disappointed than I am physically hurt," Hasselbeck said. "I'm kind of at a loss for words. It was a real bad performance by us (Sunday). It's just going to be one of those weeks where it's going to be uncomfortable and a lot harder than normal. There's going to be a lot of scrutiny and that's probably what we need right now."

The Seahawks finally found their offense just before halftime when John Carlson caught a 4-yard pass from Hasselbeck to make it 24-7.

NOTES: Seahawks first-round pick Aaron Curry left the game on a cart late in the fourth quarter with a hip pointer. The fourth overall pick will undergo an MRI on Monday. ... Johnson came just short of his career-high of 207 yards receiving.