Houston Texans vs Denver Broncos Match Player Stats On Sep 23, 2012

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 23, 2012

Texas 31, Broncos 25: Matt Schaub threw four touchdown passes, all to different receivers, and the visiting Texans held off a late rally from Peyton Manning and the Broncos to start the season 3-0 for the first time in franchise history.

The Texans trailed 5-0 before taking control of the contest with 21 straight points on three Schaub scoring passes, two of them from long range. Schaub sandwiched a 60-yard bomb to Andre Johnson and a 52-yarder to Kevin Walter around a 3-yard scoring pass to tailback Arian Foster in the first half alone.

Schaub (17-for 30 passing, 290 yards) hit tight end Owen Daniels with an 11-yard scoring pass to make it 31-11 late in the third quarter.

Meanwhile, Manning, coming off a three-interception game against the Falcons on Monday night, finally got into a rhythm in the fourth quarter as the Broncos cut the deficit to 31-25.

Manning, who entered the game 16-2 all-time against the Texans, threw a picture-perfect 38-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Stokley to begin the comeback.That pass cut the deficit to 31-18 with nine minutes left to play. He then connected with Joel Dreessen on a deflected pass for a 6-yard score with three minutes to play.

Denver got the ball back for one more chance with 20 seconds to go but was unable to mount a serious threat.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Manning finished 26 for 52 for 330 yards. It was the 64th time he went over 300 yards passing in a game, breaking the previous mark held by Dan Marino. ... Houston entered the game ranked first in the NFL in total defense, allowing 196 yards and just 8.5 points per game. ... Broncos tight end Jacob Tamme left the game with an ankle injury in the fourth quarter.