2006 Houston Texans season
On January 22, 2006, Bob McNair announced that Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak would become the Texans' second head coach.
Many local fans in Houston wanted the team to draft hometown hero Vince Young who had led the University of Texas to a Nation Championship in January.
The pick both shocked and angered fans and the team was ripped by the national media for making what many believed was one of the worst mistakes in NFL Draft history.
The Texans looked sharp early with QB David Carr throwing a 25-yard TD pass to former Bills WR Eric Moulds in the 1st Quarter.
Philadelphia took the lead late in the half with McNabb throwing a 5-yard TD pass to WR Reggie Brown and held on to it for the rest of the game.
In the third quarter, the Colts continued to put the game out of reach with Peyton throwing a 15-yard TD pass to TE Bryan Fletcher and Vinatieri kicking a 38-yard field goal.
After WR Andre Johnson provided Houston with a 10-yard TD pass, the Texans ending up losing their ninth straight contest against Indianapolis.
From there, things went downhill in the second quarter, as WR Antwaan Randle El caught a 23-yard TD pass and RB Clinton Portis ran 30 yards for a touchdown.
The Texans would get another touchdown, as QB David Carr threw a 2-yard pass to TE Owen Daniels and RB Ron Dayne would run it in for the 2-point conversion.
Fortunately, the Texans prevented a two-point conversion when Mario Williams tipped the pass and held on to pick up their first win of the year.
Coming off their Week 5 bye, the Texans traveled to Texas Stadium for a rematch with their first-ever regular season opponent, the Dallas Cowboys, in a Lone Star State showdown.
Houston did not trail at any point in their 27–7 trouncing of the Jaguars, in which they forced two turnovers, and dominated in total offense, tallying 349 yards from scrimmage to Jacksonville's 220.
Houston would try to retaliate, as Rosenfels completed two touchdown passes (a 1-yarder and a 2-yarder to rookie TE Owen Daniels), but in the end, any hope for a comeback resulted in a fumble, dropping the Texans to 2–5.
Still, the Texans had a chance at the upset and were driving when rookie linebacker Gerris Wilkinson forced fullback Jameel Cook to fumble at the Giants 35 after a short catch.
at Reliant Stadium, Houston, Texas The Bills' WR Lee Evans and QB J. P. Losman were unstoppable in the first quarter, connecting for 205 yards and two 83-yard touchdowns.
The 83-yard TDs were career highs for both Losman and Evans and marked the first time in franchise history the Bills have had two 80-yard passes in a single game.
Carr tied the record held by Mark Brunell, who had 22 consecutive completions in Washington's 31–15 win over the Texans at Reliant Stadium on September 24.
Losman hit a diving Peerless Price in the back of the end zone for the 15-yard touchdown with 13 seconds left, giving Buffalo the 24–21 win.
at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey The Jets held the Texans to just 25 yards rushing and cruised to an easy 15-point victory.
at McAfee Coliseum, Oakland, California The Texans became the first team since the Houston Oilers 25 years ago to win a game with negative yards passing, using Demarcus Faggins' 58-yard fumble return for a touchdown, two long returns on special teams and a pair of fumbles by Randal Williams to beat the Oakland Raiders 23–14.
Carr lost the first two fumbles, including one returned 35 yards for a score by Kirk Morrison after Warren Sapp's in the final minute of the half to make it 14–7.
Mathis was later used as a decoy when Dexter Wynn faked a reverse on a punt return and went 58 yards before being tackled by punter Shane Lechler at the 21.
The former University of Texas star, who grew up just six miles from the stadium, ran into the end zone virtually untouched and then jumped into the stands to the open arms of a throng of burnt orange-clad fans.
The Titans trailed 14–13 before Young engineered a 15-play, 88-yard drive ending with a 2-yard run by Travis Henry to give Tennessee (6–7) its first lead of the second half, 20–17.
David Carr and the Texans had a chance to regain the lead late in regulation, but stalled and settled for a 46-yard field goal by Kris Brown that tied it at 20 with 2:09 remaining.
at Gillette Stadium, Foxboro, Massachusetts With the game scoreless early in the first quarter, the Texans faked a punt on fourth and one from their own 42...and failed.
Ron Dayne scored on a 1-yard run on the Texans' first series of the third quarter, but Ellis Hobbs returned the ensuing kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown to put the game out of reach.
The Texans used Dayne and rookie Chris Taylor to eat up the clock and exploit the Colts' suspect run defense, ranked last in the NFL, while taking pressure off David Carr and the struggling passing game.
Taylor carried the ball 20 times in the contest and Anthony Maddox returned a fumble 47 yards for a score, as the Texans won three of their last five games of the season to finish 6–10.
Charlie Frye, starting his first game since injuring a wrist in the Browns' win versus the Kansas City Chiefs on December 3, was 25-of-34 passing for 187 yards with an interception.
