From the press box - 4:13 p.m.What a win. Andre Johnson redeemed himself for his earlier fumble in a huge way with his superhuman fourth-down reception on the Texans' game-winning drive. Standing on the Texans sideline, I couldn't even see Johnson near the ball on the far side of the field. Matt Schaub said after the game that Johnson's catch was what won the game, not his three-yard run.
Speaking of the run, talk about a gutsy call by Gary Kubiak and Kyle Shanahan on fourth-and-three with 12 seconds left. Seemed like half the crowd already had left at that point, but Schaub rewarded those who stayed with a touchdown and a win that sent them home happy.
From the press box - 2:48 p.m.With 2:11 left in the game, Houston is clinging to a 23-21 lead. Miami has the ball just about at midfield. Eugene Wilson nearly came up with the game-saving play on an interception, but he fumbled the ball and gave it back to Miami for a fresh set of downs.
I've got to head down to the field. That concludes the game blog.
From the press box - 2:42 p.m.After a near-disaster, the Texans took a 23-21 lead with 6:04 remaining with a 42-yard Kris Brown field goal. It was Brown's third field goal of the day.
A play before, Schaub was nearly intercepted on third-and-nine from the Miami 24. His laser of a pass deflected out of Kevin Walter's hands and into the air. It nearly came down in a Dolphins defender's hands, but he couldn't hang on and dropped what would have been a devastating turnover for the Texans.
Brown's field goal capped a 56-yard scoring drive that took eight plays and 3:39.
From the press box - 2:36 p.m.Schaub to Owen Daniels for 10 yards. Schaub to Kevin Walter for 30. Steve Slaton up the middle for 15 yards to the 25-yard line. That's three first downs in a row for the Texans offense, putting them well within Kris Brown field goal range at the very least.
From the press box - 2:33 p.m.For once, a challenge ruling went in the Texans' favor. Miami coach Tony Sparano challenged the spot on Casey Cramer's reception on third-and-two from the Miami 43-yard line. Morlon Greenwood made a tackle on the play, and the ball was spotted six inches short of the first down marker. Officials reviewed the play, and the ruling on the field stood. After a Dolphins punt that sailed out of bounds in the end zone, it's first-and-10 Texans from the 20-yard line with 9:43 in the game.
Could we see a repeat of the finale of last year's Texans-Dolphins matchup? In that game, Schaub led the Texans on his first-career game-winning drive, capped by Kris Brown's 57-yard field goal to give the Texans a 22-19 win. The stage is set. We'll see.
From the press box - 2:29 p.m.For those wondering who that that took down Chad Pennington on second-and-eight from the 25, it was defensive end Tim Bulman, a fourth-year player out of Boston College. Bulman has been with the Texans since 2006 and spent most of two seasons on the team's practice squad. He made the active roster this season and is playing in his third game of the year today.
Bulman is a media darling in waiting. His sense of humor, complete with a thick Boston accent, is one of the best on the team. He also has a diehard work ethic. Bulman once said that his mentality before each snap is that if he doesn't make a play on the ball, he literally is convinced that he's going to die when the play is over.
From the press box - 2:22 p.m.Today's paid attendance is 70,023. It's the 64th consecutive sellout at Reliant Stadium.
From the press box - 2:18 p.m.Back from the field. Hard to believe Andre Johnson's fumble near the Miami goal line. I was standing behind the end zone 20-30 feet from Johnson on that play, and the groan of despair and disbelief from the crowd was painful to hear up close. Johnson has had great output today with eight catches for 147 yards and a touchdown, but let's hope that mistake wasn't a crippling blow with the Texans trailing by a point.
Mario Williams came through with his second sack of the game, this one on third-and-four from the Houston 26 to set up a punt. But the Texans were unable to build a drive and punted right back. Miami's defense has yet to allow a point in the fourth quarter this season.
From the press box - 1:52 p.m.The Dolphins couldn't have scripted a better drive than the one that just produced a five-yard touchdown run by Ricky Williams. Wasting little time to strike back and retake the lead, Miami drove 73 yards in six plays to go up 21-20 with 6:18 left in the third.
I'm taking a quick break to go down to the field and get some photos from our team photographer. Be back shortly.
From the press box - 1:48 p.m.Andre Johnson got his 400th career catch in the first half. Receptions No. 401 and 402 were a bit more memorable. The 401st was a 61-yard completion from Schaub down the right sideline to the Miami 13. Two plays later, catch No. 402 went 12 yards for a Texans touchdown and a 20-14 lead five minutes into the second half.
Playing against his hometown team, Johnson already has seven catches for 130 yards and a touchdown. This is his 20th career 100-yard game. His 61-yard reception was the third-longest of his career.
From the press box - 1:27 p.m.After a wild first half that seemed a lot more negative than positive, the Texans trail by only a point at intermission.
Houston has had six possessions, resulting in two field goals, two interceptions and two punts. But the defense has held Miami in check save for two long touchdown passes to Patrick Cobbs, one of which came on a trick play. The Texans have outgained the Dolphins in yards 208-182.
Steve Slaton has eight carries for 33 yards. Andre Johnson has five catches for 57 yards and tight end Owen Daniels has three for 60. Kris Brown is two-of-two on field goals, and linebacker Morlon Greenwood leads the Texans with five tackles.
Miami will receive to start the second half of this 14-13 game.
From the press box - 1:18 p.m.Five games into the season, two things have become an inevitability at Texans games: accurate Kris Brown field goals and quarterback-crushing Mario Williams sacks.
On first-and-10 on the Dolphins' last possession, Williams sacked Pennington eight yards behind the scrimmage and forced a fumble that Dolphins running back Ricky Williams recovered. Super Mario now has five sacks on the season and 23.5 in his career.
On the ensuing Texans drive, Andre Johnson caught the 400th pass of his career. The four-yard catch over the middle was his fifth of the game, giving Johnson 57 yards receiving.
From the press box - 1:13 p.m.After the touchdown, Jones leapt into the stands to the seats occupied by his mother, Emily London, who has season tickets in the front row of the Bull Pen section. London, a native of New Orleans, has attended every Texans game since Jones entered the league in 2007 and was the deserving recipient of a hug from her son on his first career touchdown.
Fans certainly remember Jones' electric preseason of a year ago. Then a rookie out of tiny Lane College, he had two punt returns for a touchdown and two receiving touchdowns. It looked like Jones was on the verge of a big rookie season, but a shoulder injury suffered early in the season against the Indianapolis Colts slowed his progress. Looks like Jacoby's back.
From the press box - 1:07 p.m.Touchdown, Texans! Jacoby Jones went off to the races on a 70-yard punt return to ignite the crowd and make the score 14-13 with Kris Brown's extra point.
It was the first career punt return for atouchdown for Jones and the second punt return for a touchdown in Texans history. The only other punt return for a score was in the inaugural 2002 season, when Avion Black had a 76-yard touchdown against the Baltimore Ravens.
From the press box - 1:02 p.m.Despite the crowd's suggestions, the biggest problem facing the Texans offense right now isn't Schaub. The Texans simply have no answer for Dolphins linebacker Joey Porter at this point. He blew past rookie left tackle Duane Brown on third-and-10 from the Miami 15, hit Schaub as he threw and caused an incompletion that brought on even more boos and chants from the restless Texans crowd.
Porter doesn't have a sack or a tackle yet, but he also hit Schaub on an earlier throw that went for an interception. Porter has 5.5 sacks on the season so far.
Kris Brown made a 33-yard field goal to close the gap to 14-6 midawy through the second. Brown had five field goals in the Teaxns' 22-19 win over Miami last season, including the game-winning 57-yarder with one second left.
From the press box - 12:53 p.m.It's never a good thing when a player on the opposing team has a career day against you only 18 minutes into the game. At the 11:51 mark of the second quarter, Dolphins running back Patrick Cobbs already has surpassed his career receiving totals. Cobbs has two receptions for 133 yards and two touchdowns, including an 80-yard score off a dump-off pass on the last drive.
An undrafted third-year player out of North Texas, Cobbs came into the game with four career receptions for 34 yards and 14 carries for 52 yards rushing.
The 80-yard touchdown pass also was the longest of Pennington's career. Dolphins 14, Texans 3.
From the press box - 12:46 p.m.The fans definitely aren't showing Schaub a lot of love today. Every Schaub mistake - even incomplete passes - has been greeted with a chorus of boo's. Even though Schaub had 60 yards passing on the last drive, the crowd started calling for backup Sage Rosenfels with chants of "We want Sage!" after two incompletions led to another Texans punt.
Granted, Schaub's two interceptions weren't pretty. But that's a bit unforgiving for a guy starting his first game at Reliant Stadium this season - especially considering that in his last start, Schaub was 29-of-40 for 307 yards and three touchdowns, with a 119.5 quarterback rating.
From the press box - 12:40 p.m.
The defense is holding its ground. Let's see if the Texans' offense can respond in kind.
After Kris Brown's field goal, Houston's D forced another three-and-out. Safety Will Demps, who missed last week with a hamstring injury, tackled Ricky Williams one yard short of the first down marker on a pass on third-and-four from the Miami 29.
Brandon Fields' punt took a Miami-friendly roll down to the Houston 15-yard line, which is where the Texans will start their next drive.
From the press box - 12:37 p.m.On the Texans' last drive, Andre Johnson had a beautiful seven-yard gain on a short pass from Schaub inside the red zone. He made two defenders miss on the play and didn't go down until four Dolphins had him in their grasp.
But on the very next play, Johnson couldn't bring in a pass from Schaub on second-and-three from the nine. It would've been a sure touchdown - there were no defenders near Johnson on the play. The pass came a little earlier than Johnson expected because Schaub was under pressure from Joey Porter, and Johnson just couldn't hang on to the pass as he bobbled it in his hands. The Texans were unable to convert on third down. Kris Brown came on for a field goal to make the score 7-3.
From the press box - 12:25 p.m.The Dolphins sucker-punched the Texans with a play from their Wildcat formation that looked straight out of a school-yard playbook. On the first play of Dolphins' second possession, Ronnie Brown took a direct snap from the shotgun and handed off to Ricky Williams for a two-yard gain. On the next play, Brown took the snap and handed off to Williams who lateraled to quarterback Chad Pennington who passed to a wide open Patrick Cobbs for a 53-yard touchdown. Pennington lines up wide in the formation. It's the first pass he's thrown out of the formation this season.
The Texans expected to see new wrinkles in the ever-developing Wildcat offense this week. They obviously didn't see that play coming, though.
From the press box - 12:19 p.m.Schaub had one of the best games of his career in his last start two weeks ago at Jacksonville, but he's gotten off to a rough start today. He now has thrown two interceptions on two possessions, with the most recent going to Fins corner Andre' Goodman.
From the press box - 12:17 p.m.Entering the game, the Dolphins boasted the seventh-ranked run defense in the league, allowing 82.8 rushing yards per game. The Texans have been able to run on Miami early, though, with 21 yards on three carries for Slaton and 13 yards on two carries for Ahman Green. Green looks as healthy as ever. His presence gives Houston a potentially potent 1-2 punch in the backfield.
From the press box - 12:11 p.m.The Texans' defense forced a three-and-out to stop the Dolphins from capitalizing on the turnover. On third-and-one from the Houston 45-yard line, linebacker DeMeco Ryans batted down Chad Pennington's pass intended for tight end Anthony Fasano to lead to a punt.
No sign of the Dolphins' "Wildcat" offense yet.
From the press box - 12:08 p.m.The Dolphins won the toss and deferred until the second half, and the Texans opted to receive the ball to start the game. Andre' Davis opened the game with a 23-yard kick return, giving Houston first-and-10 from the 24-yard line.
Quarterback Matt Schaub, back in the starting lineup after missing last week with a viral infection, looked to Andre Johnson on the first play from scrimmage. Schaub found Johnson on a short pass to the left that the Pro Bowl receiver turned into a nine-yard gain. Steve Slaton broke free for a 22-yard gain down the right side to put the Texans on Miami's side of the field. But Schaub, who was blindsided by Joey Porter mid-throw, was intercepted on the next play by Fins linebacker Akin Ayodele.
From the press box - 11:59 a.m.Just minutes from kickoff, here are two more changes to the Texans' starting lineup:
DelJuan Robinson will start for defensive tackle Amobi Okoye. Brandon Harrison will start for Nick Ferguson.
Texans coach Gary Kubiak has praised Robinson's recent play this week and the team was pleased with Okoye's production with reduced snaps against the Colts, so the move doesn't come as much of a surprise. Big opportunity here for Harrison, who played well last week at strong safety with Will Demps out with an injury.
From the Reliant Stadium press box - 10:39 a.m.
It's 90 minutes to kickoff as the Texans look to find their first win against the 2-2 Miami Dolphins. Houston has beaten Miami in all three games in series history, including a 22-19 victory at Reliant Stadium in 2007 behind five field goals from Kris Brown.
The Dolphins are coming off wins over New England and San Diego, the two teams who played in the AFC Championship Game last season. Houston is coming off last-minute losses to the Jaguars and Colts.
Hot off the press, here are the inactives for today's game:
Texans
27 RB Chris Taylor
34 S Dominique Barber
52 LB Xavier Adibi
64 G Kasey Studdard
78 T Rashad Butler
87 TE Mark Bruener
94 DE N.D. Kalu
97 DT Frank Okam
Cornerback DeMarcus Faggins will start for Fred Bennett.
Dolphins9 QB John Beck
18 WR Ernest Wilford
61 G Shawn Murphy
71 DE Lionel Dotson
75 T Nate Garner
76 T Kirk Barton
82 WR Derek Hagan
90 DE Rodrique Wright
