*Watch head coach Gary Kubiak's Monday press conference live on Texans TV at 3:30 p.m.
Johnson out:Wide receiver Andre Johnson was inactive on Sunday in Denver due to a lingering ankle injury. Johnson, who sprained his ankle during a Week 2 victory at Washington, missed the Week 4 contest at Oakland, but played in every other game in 2010.
Johnson's absence was no surprise to quarterback Matt Schaub, who said after that the team "knew all week that he wasn't going to play."
284 yards shy of a third consecutive season with more than 1,500 yards receiving, Johnson said on Sunday after the loss that he's not ruled out for the season finale at home against Jacksonville.
Rackers' big day: Kicker Neil Rackers connected on field goals of 34, 54 and 57 yards, in addition to a pair of extra point attempts. He became the first kicker in the last 20 years to drill two 50-plus yard field goals in the third quarter of a single game, and the 57-yarder was a career long for him.
"The ball flies," Rackers said. "It's a good place to kick. Ball contact-wise I haven't kicked in practice all week, so my leg felt fresh and I made good ball contact."
Rackers moved into a tie for third place with Kris Brown (2007) on the Texans single-season field goals made list, converting all three of his attempts in the game. He is now 25-of-28 on field goals this season. His 57-yarder also tied Brown for the longest field goal in franchise history.
The personal accolades did little for Rackers, though.
"It's a tough feeling. I want the opportunity to go and help my team win, but I didn't get that."
First half output: The Texans offense racked up 233 yards of offense and took a 17-point lead into the locker room at the break. The yardage total was the best first half for Schaub and company in 2010, and was highlighted by a pair of three-yard touchdowns: one on the ground courtesy of Arian Foster, and one through the air to Owen Daniels.
Daniels had 53 yards receiving in the first 30 minutes, but it was wide receiver Jacoby Jones who led the way with 92 yards on three receptions. On the first two plays of the second quarter, Schaub found Jones for a 47 yard completion, and followed it up with a 34-yarder that brought the Texans to the Denver 4-yard line. On the day, Jones finished with five catches for 115 yards. It was the first 100-plus yard receiving day of his career.
Arian's Afternoon: Foster, meanwhile, started strong by gaining 66 first half rushing yards on 14 carries. He wound up with 91 rushing yards on 19 carries. In the process, though, he passed the 2,000-yard mark for rushing/receiving yardage. He's the first player in franchise history to do so, and he now has 2,030 yards from scrimmage this season on 1,436 rushing yards and 594 receiving yards.
With today's output, Foster stays atop the NFL in rushing yards as well as rushing touchdowns and rushing yards per game.
