Brown's FG lifts Texans past Colts

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12/24/2006 - Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ron Dayne rushed for a career-high 153 yards and scored two touchdowns, and Kris Brown booted a 48-yard field goal as time expired, as Houston stunned Indianapolis with a 27-24 victory, the first win in 10 all-time meetings.

David Carr completed 16-of-23 passes for 163 yards with a touchdown for the Texans (5-10), who ended a two-game slide. Dayne also surpassed the 100-yard rushing mark for the first time since the 2001 season, when he was a member of the New York Giants.

Vonta Leach caught his first touchdown pass of the season for Houston, which scored the game's first 14 points to take control early.

Peyton Manning went 21-for-27 for 205 yards and three touchdowns for the Colts (11-4), who have lost four of their last five. Manning also surpassed the 4,000-yard passing mark for the seventh time in the last eight seasons, setting a new NFL record.

Marvin Harrison hauled in eight passes for 112 yards and two scores while Joseph Addai ran for 100 yards for Indianapolis, which has already won the AFC South championship for the fourth straight year. The Colts could have secured a first-round playoff bye with a win and a Baltimore loss.

After Indy tied the contest at 24-24 with just under three minutes left in the fourth, Houston's Dexter Wynn returned the kickoff 38 yards to the Houston 39. Carr then moved the Texans down to the 33-yard line, setting up Brown for a game-winning field goal attempt. After the Colts took two timeouts, attempting to ice the kicker with three seconds left, Brown stepped up and split the uprights with a 48-yard field goal to win it for Houston.

The Texans scored on the opening drive of the game to take an early 7-0 lead. Dayne capped a 10-play, 61-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown up the middle. The key play on the drive was a 25-yard pass to Mark Bruener while Dayne had 21 yards rushing.

After recovering a Dominic Rhodes fumble on the following drive, Houston put together a nine-play, 47-yard drive that ended with Dayne barreling his way across the goal line from six yards out for his second touchdown of the game with 5:46 left in the first.

With less than a minute left in the opening quarter, the Colts got on the board and made it 14-7 after Manning connected with a wide-open Harrison for a 37-yard touchdown.

Indianapolis evened the score at 14-14 with 8:16 left in the second stanza after Manning found Aaron Moorehead open just over the goal line for a nine- yard touchdown pass.

Houston went into halftime with a 21-14 lead after Carr connected with Leach for a three-yard touchdown reception with just 16 seconds remaining in the first half. The Texans marched 75 yards on 14 plays during the scoring drive that spanned eight minutes.

With 6:08 left in the third quarter, the Colts pulled to within 21-17 after Adam Vinatieri split the uprights with a 33-yard field goal. Vinatieri's three points highlighted an 11-play, 65-yard drive.

Brown extended Houston's lead to 24-17 with 6:54 left in the contest after hitting a 42-yard field goal. Brown's field goal ended a mammoth drive for the Texans that went 51 yards on 15 plays and lasted almost 9 1/2 minutes.

Manning and the Colts though tied the game at 24-24 after Harrison hauled in his second touchdown of the game, a seven-yard reception over the middle of the end zone with 2:41 remaining.

Game Notes

The Colts had won all nine head-to-head meetings with the Texans all-time, including a 43-24 home triumph in Week 2 this season...Dayne has five touchdowns over his last four games...Houston wide receiver Andre Johnson had four catches for 48 yards and...The Texans outgained the Colts in total net yards, 354-319...The Colts close out the regular season next Sunday at home against the Miami Dolphins while the Texans host the Cleveland Browns in their season finale.

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Online Sportsbook Football Betting

The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.

New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).

The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.

Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.

Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.

Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.

The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.

Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.

The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.

Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.

However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).

The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.

Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.

In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.

Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.

Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.

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