Houston Texans vs Denver Broncos – September 23, 2012 Replay

Week three for my Houston Texans is the week I finally became a believer in Matt Schaub. I've been a fan of Peyton Manning for years, and he didn't disappoint, either. He did exactly what I thought he would do in the second half, marching his team downfield and threatening to take the game. If the Denver receivers hadn't dropped so many passes early, this would have been a different game. Matt Schaub stood tall on Sunday, and proved (to me, at least) that he was a great quarterback, and is the leader of the Texans.

The Houston running game didn't really make a big splash this week, but this gave the Texans the opportunity to show what they can do in the air, and Schaub, Johnson and the boys didn't disappoint. Schaub bombed Andre Johnson with a beautiful 60-yard pass for the first TD, and then spread the ball around in the air for another three to tie his personal best of four touchdowns in a single game.

There were some tough hits during the game, Manning hit his head on the ground early, but came right back and never flinched in the pocket, throwing with growing confidence through the game. By the second half, he looked great, but the receivers couldn't seem to handle the throws. Once they get it together, they'll be a scary offense.

Schaub took a pounding in the game, and one particularly brutal series that earned Denver two back-to-back roughing the passer penalties, and should earn Bronco Joe Mays a hefty fine if the league knows what's good for them. Schaub apparently lost a small piece of his ear when his helmet was blown off his head by the hit, but was only out for one play, calling for his helmet and getting right back out onto the field. He later said he was just doing the job of the quarterback, and earned a lot of people's respect for the toughness. He finished the game with four touchdowns, 290 passing yards, and a 115.3 rating.

This was a week that should earn a bunch of teams some fines, with some seriously ugly hits, including the hit on Tony Romo during the game against Tampa Bay, and the frightening and crushing hit on Darrius Heyward-Bey, that sent the Raiders wide receiver to the hospital for observation. Good news, he's out and is expected to recover completely.

In case you missed the game, don't worry, we have the recap of what happened, a video recap and pictures from the game. Check out ESPN's preview of this week's coming matchup against the Tennessee Titans.

 DENVER -- Fall behind by 20. Mount a furious comeback. Lose by six.

The ugly interceptions didn't play into Peyton Manning's second straight defeat, but so much of the rest of it sounded like a broken record -- the likes of which the Broncos quarterback doesn't want to hear anymore.

Matt Schaub lost a small chunk of his ear after a brutal hit, but still outplayed Manning, throwing for four touchdowns against a confused Broncos defense Sunday to stake the Houston Texans to a big lead on the way to a 31-25 victory.

via ESPN.com