Texas NFL Capsules: Four-game win streak sends Cowboys to top of NFC East

Instead, the Texans committed a season-high 103 yards of penalties and three turnovers before Kris Brown missed a potential game-tying field goal as time expired in the 20-17 loss.

"This week we were very sloppy," coach Gary Kubiak said. "I'm very concerned about how we started (Sunday). I thought we lacked some focus early in the game. We lacked some focus from some very important players."

The Texans have their bye this week and 15 days to regroup before a Monday night meeting with Tennessee followed by a rematch with the Colts. The 5-4 Texans are looking for a strong finish to keep up hopes of their first playoff berth.

Kubiak said turnovers have been his team's biggest problem through its first nine games.

"Turnovers. I don't have the words to describe how frustrated I am," Kubiak said. "It's just hurting our football team. It's not one guy, it's not two guys, it's a little bit of everybody. Fixing that problem and being better in that phase over the next seven weeks will have a lot to do with what we're talking about come January."

Running back Steve Slaton's five lost fumbles are tied for most in the NFL and Houston has lost seven fumbles overall. Matt Schaub has nine interceptions this season after getting picked off twice on Sunday.

Houston's other turnover against the Colts came after Indianapolis challenged a call that Ryan Moats had fumbled the ball out of bounds at the Indianapolis 1 late in the first half. The ruling was reversed and the Colts got a touchback and the ball at the 20.

The Texans were criticized for letting the clock run down to the two-minute warning instead of quickly running a play and giving Indianapolis time to review and challenge the play. Kubiak said he didn't realize the call was questionable until it was too late.

"The topic never came up that there was a problem over there," he said. "So I was strictly trying to control the game from a standpoint of hoping not to put our defense back on the field and give Peyton (Manning) the ball with too much time."

Houston's 13 penalties were by far their most of the season after the Texans averaged just more than five a game in the first eight games.

"We had penalties in all phases," Kubiak said. "Trying to overcome that many penalties and still beat this football team makes it very, very difficult."

Kubiak pointed to a pass interference penalty on Dunta Robinson and an unnecessary roughness call on Eugene Wilson as the most troubling of the infractions. Both penalties came on third down and allowed the Colts to extend their drives.

"The thing about those two penalties is that it led to about 20 more snaps that the defense was on the field," he said. "Sometimes I don't think players realize that."

Houston hopes to clean up its mistakes and rebound from a poor first half against the AFC South where its only division win was against Tennessee. The Texans face that challenge quickly with their remaining division games all coming in the three weeks following the bye.

-- Kristie Rieken

PHILADELPHIA — Andy Reid sees no difference in his team whether it's playing a close game or enjoying a blowout.

It's just that his Philadelphia Eagles have been losing a lot of the close ones.

Sunday night's 20-16 loss to the Dallas Cowboys left the Eagles at 1-8-1 in their past 10 games decided by a touchdown or less.

In the Eagles five wins this season they have outscored their opponents 172-72, winning by an average of 20 points per game.

Two of their three losses were decided in the fourth quarter, a 13-9 setback in Oakland and Sunday's loss.

"That's a pretty good stat," Reid said regarding the numbers. "I don't know if there is a link other than that stat. I don't see a tightness, or pressing in the fourth quarter. I haven't seen that. On the other side, maybe we're trying too hard, because I see a maximum effort out there."

Just as in the loss to Oakland, the Eagles had several chances to win against Dallas, but failed to convert critical short-yardage plays. Philadelphia was stopped twice on 3rd-and-1 and once on 4th-and-1.

In their easy victories the team hit several plays of 50 yards or more. There were none of those against the Cowboys.

"Short yardage has been very good over the course of the season," Reid said. "We were 12 for 15 on third-and-less-than-two. That's pretty good. We have to get back to that."

Safety Quintin Mikell thinks it's a matter of focusing more when the outcome is in doubt.

"I think at the end of the day, when it's a game like this, we just all got to play — I guess the word would be more focused," Mikell said. "A lot of times we get caught in these games. We beat ourselves. I'm not going to take anything away from Dallas — I mean, they made a lot of big plays — but there are definitely some plays that we left on the field. We left some opportunities out there. And if we would have played more disciplined and played smarter, we probably would have been looking at a different game."

The Eagles, 5-3 at the midpoint of the season and in second place in the NFC East, play four of their next five games on the road. It starts in San Diego on Sunday against the Chargers (5-3).

"We're sitting here with a decent record," Reid said. "And we have eight big games left."

The Eagles may start a tough stretch without another linebacker, weakside starter Akeem Jordan, who hyper-extended his knee Sunday night and will be limited this week.

With Stewart Bradley and Omar Gaither on injured reserve and strongside starter Chris Gocong out last week with a hamstring injury, the ranks are thin.

"We'll see, Sean (McDermott) and I have to talk about that," Reid said. "First, we have to see how Akeem is."

If Jordan cannot play, Reid has three options on his roster. He can start special teams ace Tracy White, who played the final drive of the game on Sunday but is not known as a run stopper. If Gocong is ready, he could flip Moise Fokou, who started last week on the strong side, to the weak side. The Eagles also could put Jeremiah Trotter in the middle and move Will Witherspoon to the weak side.

NOTES: Cornerback/kick returner Ellis Hobbs suffered a neck injury in Sunday night's game, had a MRI Monday and saw a spine specialist. Reid said there would be further evaluation during the week. Left tackle Jason Peters and fullback Leonard Weaver both have sprained ankles, but are expected to play. Wide receiver Kevin Curtis, who had arthroscopic surgery on his knee, is expected back in town this week. Running back Brian Westbrook, who missed the past two games with a concussion, also had work done on his ankle, according to Reid, but is expected back this week.

After loss to Tampa, Pack needs to rebound

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Despite two losses to Brett Favre and the division rival Minnesota Vikings in the first half of the season, at least the Green Bay Packers were beating the teams they're supposed to.

Powers has kept receivers Andre Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, T.J. Houshmandazdeh and Michael Crabtree out of the end zone this year. Lacey saved the game at Miami by defending Ted Ginn Jr. on a potential winning score.

Now the rookie tandem faces its biggest midterm of the season: Tom Brady, Randy Moss and Wes Welker.

"They (the rookies) have been improving week by week and they study hard and work extremely hard," coach Jim Caldwell said Monday. "Every week is a brand new challenge, and this week there's a huge challenge in covering one of the best receivers in football, Randy Moss, and Welker on the inside. Couple that with an outstanding quarterback and it's going to be a challenge."

On paper, it looks more like a mismatch.

Veteran quarterbacks, like Brady, tend to find rookies wherever they hide and feast on their mistakes.

But the unbeaten Colts (8-0) don't have many options.

Marlin Jackson, a 2005 first-round pick, was put on injured reserve after tearing the ACL in his left knee during last week's practice. His season is over.

Indy also announced last week that its other starting cornerback, Kelvin Hayden, Indy's second-round pick in '05, is expected to miss another two to three weeks with his own knee injury. The team hasn't said which knee he hurt.

And 2007 defensive player of the year Bob Sanders also went on season-ending injured reserve with a torn left biceps.

So the Colts face New England (6-2), winners of three straight, without three of their four projected starters in the secondary.

Even if the Colts do sign a defensive back or two this week, something Caldwell said might happen, Powers and Lacey will continue to find themselves playing key roles.

Powers has started seven games, had one interception and was second on the team with 10 tackles in Sunday's 20-17 victory over Houston. Lacey had nine tackles in his second career start and helped limit most of the Texans' outlet receivers from becoming major factors.

Yes, Matt Schaub threw for 311 yards but nearly one-third of his total on came on Houston's final two drives when Schaub was trying to position the Texans (5-4) for a tying or go-ahead score.

The reality is this: Powers and Lacey haven't played — or sounded — like typical rookies.

The Colts are ranked No. 9 against the pass and have allowed only four passing TDs this season after giving up just six last season.

But New England is a different challenge.

"They've been on a roll lately, just watching them on Sunday games," Powers said of the Pats. "Tom looked like he was back to his old self. They look like they're clicking on all cylinders. I'm pretty sure this will be a fun one."

Fun for whom?

New England has had the upper hand in the series for most of the decade, winning seven of 12 contests and at 6-foot-4, Moss could exploit his big size advantage over the rookies, who are listed at 5-10.

Indy, however, has won four of the last five matchups, and the rookie cornerbacks may have just gotten a good simulation of what they'll face against New England. On Sunday, Powers spent much of the day covering the powerful Johnson, last year's NFL leader in receptions and yards receiving. Johnson had 10 catches and 103 yards, no touchdowns.

And those lessons could help both players this week.

"I'm not certain that will prepare them for it," Caldwell said. "But you're going to see the same kind of size from Randy Moss and the same kind of speed as Jacoby Jones and they're going to see one of the best in the league at quarterback."

Don't expect major changes, though.

Fourth-year cornerback Tim Jennings will likely fill the nickel role. Third-year safety Melvin Bullitt has thrived as Sanders' replacement the last two seasons, and now the Colts need Powers and Lacey to continue playing like veterans.

Caldwell expects nothing less.

"They've been playing for a while now.," he said. "They're not quite seasoned yet, but I wouldn't consider them rookies any longer. We also don't look at them that way. We don't allow them to make excuses because of experience. They study, they play and we hold them to a standard and they've played well."

-- Michael Marot

Is this the start of a new streak for a team that started 10-0 last season and 0-6 this season?

The Titans sure hope so.

A team that went into its bye outscored 127-26 in three straight games now has flipped that with a 64-40 edge, including a 34-27 win at San Francisco on Sunday. The schedule gets easier, too, with Buffalo (3-5) visiting Sunday and five of the final eight at home.

"Guys feel rejuvenated, guys are happy about what we've done over the last two weeks," veteran center Kevin Mawae said Monday. "Things kind of snowballed on us the first six weeks of the season, but we overcame that. We're starting to overcome the penalties and starting to overcome the things that don't go our way."

Coach Jeff Fisher said balls are going their way after going against them early. Before the bye, the Titans had only 11 sacks and just four interceptions on defense. Now they have eight sacks and five interceptions in the two wins. A different player came up with each of four turnovers in San Francisco, and Cortland Finnegan had their first interception return for a touchdown.

"We're making these happen," Fisher said. "They didn't happen before. Those balls hit the ground and now we're catching them. We just have to continue.

"The team's healed up, we're healthy. It's good to get the DBs back," Fischer said. "We're running the football, and we're protecting it. When you can do that, you can win games."

That's the formula Tennessee used in reeling off 10 straight wins last season.

The difference now is that Young is starting instead of Kerry Collins. The 2006 Offensive Rookie of the Year has shown patience and trust in his teammates in these two starts, and he is completing 64.3 percent of his passes. He showed he knows when to run by running for his first touchdown since Nov. 19, 2007, on Sunday.

Young called two straight wins big.

"The way we started, it was bad. How we're coming together as a team and coaching staff and everybody's starting to believe and get the momentum," he said.

Running the ball has been a plus in these wins. Johnson ran 24 times against Jacksonville and 25 more against the 49ers, and he became the first running back to top 100 yards against San Francisco this season with 135. Johnson has rushed for 363 yards in these wins.

"We felt like we needed our run game, we need to beat them with the speed," Fisher said of the 49ers. "We did, and nobody has done that this year."

But the biggest key has been on defense. Finnegan missed the final three losses before the bye with an injured right hamstring. The secondary also went a month without key defensive back Vincent Fuller because of a broken arm, and starting cornerback Nick Harper broke his right forearm Oct. 11.

The Titans signed veteran Rod Hood on Oct. 15, and he has started for Harper in these wins. Hood picked off a pass for the Titans' first turnover against Jacksonville, then he did it again in San Francisco, grabbing a ball tipped to him by safety Michael Griffin.

"You can't do everything, draw it all up perfectly and guess right all the time as coaches. Sometimes they just have to make plays," Fisher said of the players. "That's what's been happening the last couple of weeks."

A little bit of luck doesn't hurt either. Jacob Ford's helmet hit the ball as he sacked Alex Smith, and Keith Bulluck recovered what officials ruled an incomplete pass. Fisher challenged the call — and won for the first time in four challenges this season.

Receiver Nate Washington said they aren't giving up on this season, not with eight games left.

"We are going to continue to keep plucking away and see how it pans out for us," he said.

-- Teresa M. Walker