Game Preview
Miami Dolphins at Houston Texans
sunday, october 12, 2008 - 1:00 pm
*Surprising Dolphins visit winless Texans*
MIAMI (2-2) AT HOUSTON (0-4), 1:00 pm EDT
HOUSTON (Ticker) -- Tony Sparano knew he would face a lot of challenges in his first season. Telling his team to guard against a letdown probably was not among them.
The surprising Miami Dolphins take aim at their third consecutive victory when they visit the winless Houston Texans on Sunday.
Sparano, in his first season as a head coach, already has doubled the Dolphins' win total from 2007 with shocking upsets of the New England Patriots and San Diego Chargers - two teams that played in the AFC championship game last season.
Yet coming off a 1-15 season, Sparano knows his team cannot afford to get carried away by the recent success.
"No, don't get too hyped up. A lot of people want to pat you on the back when you do good," Sparano said. "When you don't do good, they want to bring you down or they want to kick you in the butt.
"As I told this team, the big thing right now is just from our end, don't get caught up in all of that stuff. We've got to keep a level head."
The failure of backup quarterback Sage Rosenfels to keep a level head cost the Texans what appeared to be a sure victory over the Indianapolis Colts last weekend.
Houston had run off 27 unanswered points to take a 27-10 lead, but a pair of fumbles by Rosenfels played a huge part in the Colts scoring 21 points in the final four minutes to snatch away at 31-27 victory.
"I made mistakes today," Rosenfels said. "All of our team played great football today, played winning football and I made those mistakes that cost football games. There is no reason we should have lost that game."
Rosenfels started in place of Matt Schaub, who was a last-minute scratch after spending the previous night in a hospital with a viral infection.
Rookie Steve Slaton rushed 16 times for 93 yards and two touchdowns and Andre Johnson caught nine passes for 131 yards and a score for the Texans, who should have Schaub back for Sunday's game.
Defensively, Houston must prepare for Miami's "Wildcat" offense, which features running back Ronnie Brown taking a direct snap from center.
Brown had registered back-to-back 100-yard efforts and scored five touchdowns in his last two games. Quarterback Chad Pennington has been outstanding in the two victories, completing 39-of-49 passes for 454 yards and a touchdown.
"You have to give them a ton of credit for what they've went and done here in the last two weeks," Texans coach Gary Kubiak said. "They've found something with their football team that's giving people fits, and it's our turn to deal with it this week."