The inaugural season for the Texans was a bit of an oddity. There were four wins, including the opener against Dallas (which, of course, is coming up on this list).
The other three were notable though: a road victory at Jacksonville when they still had Mark Brunell at quarterback, a home win against a playoff-bound Giants team and an unforgettable game at Pittsburgh with a recipe that might never be duplicated.
This was the pre-Roethlisberger Steelers. But they were headed to the playoffs with Tommy Maddox at quarterback. And it was December, with snow on the ground (not the field) and it was 35 degrees. Pittsburgh weather.
Kicker Kris Brown was making his return to the city of his former team, with which he struggled. So some of the pregame focus was on him.
But the defense quickly stole the show. Kenny Wright returned a Maddox fumble for a TD and a 7-0 lead. Aaron Glenn added a pick-six to shockingly make it 14-0 Texans in the first quarter.
On the other side of the ball, virtually nothing was happening. In fact, you might just remove virtually from the last sentence. Houston generated just 47 yards of total offense all day, going 1-for-12 on 3rd down. The key was that the Texans only turned it over once while the defense was having a takeaway party.
Glenn scored on another interception return in the second half, making it two TDs for the day. That early December performance likely cemented a Pro Bowl bid.
Kris Brown hit a field goal for a little former employee revenge and Houston walked out of Heinz Field with a 24-6 monstrous upset win that shocked the league. Three defensive scores combined with an offense that struggled to get past midfield caught the attention of all NFL followers. It's not likely to happen again.
