The Texans saw their record drop to 5-5 in Week 11 with a 20-17 loss to the Tennessee Titans on Monday Night Football. They didn't trail until late in the third quarter but, for the second time in as many games, lost when a last-second field goal attempt sailed wide left.
"It's all on me":For the second consecutive game, the Texans were a missed field goal away from going to overtime. Kicker Kris Brown missed a 49-yard attempt with one second remaining Monday night's three-point loss. Quarterback Matt Schaub had moved the Texans 31 yards in three quick plays to set up the game-tying attempt.
"It's all on me," a distraught Brown said after the game. "It's totally me. The frustrating part for me is we have 44 guys out there busting their tail and one guy out there not doing his job. That's the reason we lose the game. That's hard for me to take. I need to figure out what the heck is going on and I need to figure it out pretty quick."
Brown, an original Texan, also missed wide left from 42 yards out as time expired in a 20-17 loss to the Colts two weeks ago. He had missed just four field goals in both of the last two seasons, making 87.1 percent of his kicks in that span, but has missed six through 10 games in 2009.
"You feel for a guy like that," cornerback Dunta Robinson said. "Kris has been good for us for so many years. Back-to-back weeks, he has missed a field goal, and you know how hard he works, how hard he prepares, the kind of competitor he is, so we know he's taking it hard."
Brown was 1-of-3 on Monday night, converting a 26-yard field goal but missing a 49-yard attempt in the third quarter.
"In my position, it's pretty easy to figure out whether or not you're doing your job or not, and I didn't do my job tonight," he said. "I need to figure this out pretty quickly."
Streak ends: Running back Chris Johnson gained 151 rushing yards on 29 carries. It was the first time the Texans allowed a 100-yard rusher since Week 3. In the six games since then, they had the league's best rushing defense with only 60.5 rushing yards allowed per game.
That average was eclipsed by both Johnson and Young, who ran 11 times for 73 yards. Johnson, the league's leading rusher, had 197 rushing yards against the Texans in Week 2.
Recurring themes: Some all-too-familiar trends popped up in the Texans' loss. They didn't finish strong, had trouble running the ball and couldn't get to the opposing quarterback. The Texans had no sacks, gained 57 rushing yards on 3.4 yards per carry and were scoreless in the fourth quarter.
The Texans won the turnover battle 1-0 thanks to Vince Young's third-quarter fumble, marking the first time they've won the turnover battle in a loss this season. Houston was 4-0 when winning the turnover battle heading into Monday night.
Penalties play a role: The Texans were penalized seven times for 72 yards. The Titans had five penalties for 25 yards. Among the Texans' penalties were three 15-yard infractions: unnecessary roughness calls on defensive end Antonio Smith and linebacker Brian Cushing and a horse-collar tackle penalty on safety John Busing.
Busing's penalty was the most controversial and most critical. It came on the first play of the Titans' game-winning drive. Busing tackled Chris Johnson after a three-yard gain at the Tennessee nine-yard line, and he was flagged for the penalty while dragging Johnson to the ground.
The 15-yard penalty gave the Titans a first-and-10 from the 24 instead of second-and-seven from the nine-yard line, and Johnson ran for 22 yards on the next play.
Strong showing by Turk: While Brown struggled, his holder on field goals, Matt Turk, had an exceptional day punting the ball. Four of Turk's five punts were downed inside the Tennessee 20-yard line. None of his punts were returned.
Turk averaged 47.2 yards per kick with a net average of 43.2. It was his second-highest net average of the season, bested only by his 44.3 average against the Titans in Week 2.
Davis, Martinez fill in: Texans kick returner/receiver Jacoby Jones missed Monday night's game with a calf injury. He was replaced on kickoff returns by wide receiver André Davis and on punt returns by receiver Glenn Martinez.
Davis, who was replaced by Jones at kick returner two weeks ago at Indianapolis, gained 70 yards on his first two returns. He finished with a 25.7 average. Martinez gained 10 yards on three returns with a long of 11. He also had a nifty fourth-quarter return negated by a penalty.
"I did OK, but the only stat that counts is a win or loss, and we didn't get that W," Martinez said.
David Anderson stepped up at receiver in Jones' absence. He had five catches for 52 yards, both season-highs.
Setting marks: Schaub threw for 305 yards, completing passes to eight different receivers. It was his sixth 300-yard passing game this season, extending his own franchise record. Schaub also had two touchdown passes and no interceptions, but he was sacked four times.
He finished with a 105.2 passer rating. It was Schaub's fifth game this season with a rating of better than 100, establishing a new team record. Schaub has 2,958 passing yards this season, which ranks third in the NFL behind Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.
Tidbits: Chris Brown made his first start of the season, lining up at fullback for the game's opening snap. Brown finished with a team-high 11 carries for 36 yards and had three catches for 17 yards...
Rookie tight end James Casey had a career-long 32-yard catch in the second quarter. He had arthroscopic knee surgery two weeks ago…
Cushing led the team in tackles for the eighth time in this season, finishing with 10 tackles. He's tied with Jets linebacker David Harris for the AFC lead with 88 tackles this season…
Linebacker Zac Diles recorded a season-high nine tackles, including eight solos. He forced a fumble in the third quarter, which was recovered by safety Bernard Pollard…
Running back Arian Foster made his NFL debut when he lined up as an upback on the opening kickoff. He made one tackle on special teams in his professional debut.
Follow Nick Scurfield on Twitter at ****twitter.com/NickScurfield*** or find him on the "I'm A Texan Club" at ****imatexan.com/profiles/NickScurf/***.
