TEXANSTEXANS VS. AT PATRIOTS BILLS TTHOUSTONeXeX (8-7) NEW AN ANENGLAND (10-5) S S TEXANS WRAP UP THE REGULAR SEASON WITH A HOME DATE AGAINST PATRIOTS The Houston Texans return home after two road wins seeking their first winning season as they face the New Eng- land Patriots on January 3, 2010 at Noon at Reliant Stadium. The Texans enter Sunday in the playoff hunt. Houston looks to extend its winning streak to four straight which would tie its franchise-best mark from 2008. The Texans face the Patriots for the third time in team history. Houston looks to gain their first win in the series. Houston last hosted New England in 2003 when the eventual Super Bowl champions escaped town with a 23-20 win in overtime. Houston’s 379.3 yards of total offense per game ranks fifth in the NFL. The Texans are paced by a pair of league leaders. WR Andre Johnson leads the NFL with 1,504 receiving yards. He became only the second receiver in league history to post back-to-back 1,500 yard seasons. He is 71 yards shy of matching his career best in receiving yards from last season. Johnson looks to become the first player in over a decade to lead the league in receiving yards in consecutive seasons. QB Matt Schaub leads the NFL with a career-high 4,467 yards. If Schaub and John- son can finish the season at the top of their respective categories, they would become the eighth set of teammates since the 1970 NFL merger and first since 1998 to lead the league in passing and receiving yards in a single season. During the month of December, Houston finished with a 3-1 record. Johnson led all receivers with 559 receiving yards. He finished with eight catches of 25 or more yards. Schaub passed for 1,225 yards and a quarterback rat- ing of 103.2. Schaub was injured on the first play at Jacksonville (12/6) when he was dropped for a nine yard loss. Since then, he has been sacked just twice in 139 pass attempts. The Texans defense enters Sunday ranked 14th in the NFL. They are led by Rookie of the Year candidate Brian Cushing who leads all AFC linebackers with 128 tackles. He leads all NFL linebackers with four interceptions. PRESEASON Sat., Aug. 15 @ Kansas City W 16-10 VS. Sat., Aug. 22 New Orleans L 38-14 Mon., Aug 31 Minnesota # L 17-10 Fri., Sept. 4 @ Tampa Bay W 27-20 GAME INFORMATION Date: Sunday, January 3, 2010 REGULAR SEASON Site: Reliant Stadium Sun., Sept. 13 N.Y. Jets L 24-7 Capacity: 71,054 Sun., Sept. 20 @ Tennessee W 34-31 Surface: Natural Grass Sun., Sept. 27 Jacksonville L 31-24 Time: Noon Sun., Oct. 4 Oakland W 29-6 Television: CBS- KHOU Channel 11 Sun., Oct. 11 @ Arizona L 28-21 Kevin Harlan (play-by-play) Solomon Wilcots (color) Sun., Oct. 18 @ Cincinnati W 28-17 Radio: KILT- 610 AM and 100.3 FM Sun., Oct. 25 San Francisco W 24-21 Marc Vandermeer (play-by-play) Sun., Nov. 1 @ Buffalo W 31-10 Andre Ware (color) Sun., Nov. 8 @ Indianapolis L 20-17 Rich Lord (sideline) Sun., Nov. 15 Bye Week KLAT 1010 AM Mon., Nov. 23 Tennessee # L 20-17 Rolando Becerra (play-by-play) Sun., Nov. 29 Indianapolis L 35-27 Enrique Vasquez (color) Sun., Dec. 6 @ Jacksonville L 23-18 TEXANS LAST GAME AT MIAMI Sun., Dec. 13 Seattle W 34-7 The Texans got their eighth win of the season with a 27- Sun., Dec. 20 @ St. Louis W 16-13 20 win in Miami. Houston jumped out to a 27-0 lead in Sun., Dec. 27 @ Miami W 27-20 the second quarter by scoring on their first five drives. Sun., Jan. 3 New England CBS Noon Houston outrushed the Dolphins 126-60 with rookie RB Arian Foster running for a career-high 97 yards on 19 carries. Miami native Andre Johnson made a team- All game times are listed as Central time high five grabs for 71 yards and a 10-yard score. With #- Nationally Televised Game the win, Houston finished with a franchise- best fifth road win this season. 2009 TEXANSTEXANS VS. AT PATRIOTS BILLS TTeXeXGAME INFORMATION AN AN S S TABLE OF CONTENTS 2009 AFC SOUTH STANDINGS Weekly Schedule W L PCT. ST Texans Head Coach Indianapolis 14 1 .933 L 1 Patriots Head Coach HOUSTON 8 7 .533 W 3 Texans General Manager Jacksonville 7 8 .467 L 3 Texans Game Preview Tennessee 7 8 .467 L 1 Texans Game Information Texans Teams Notes HOUSTON TEXANS PR CONTACTS Offensive Notes Defensive Notes CONTACTS PHONE/E-MAIL Special Teams Notes 2009 Draft Recap Tony Wyllie (832) 667-2203 Texans Player Information [email protected] Texans Community Information Kevin Cooper (832) 667-2035 NFL Important Dates [email protected] Zac Emmons (832) 667-2220 HOUSTON TEXANS [email protected] WEEKLY SCHEDULE Sybil Scott (832) 667-2282 [email protected] Monday, December 28 Charles Hampton (832) 667-2241 Gary Kubiak: 3:35 p.m. [email protected] Tuesday, December 29 Fax (832) 667-2188 Players day off MEDIA INTERVIEW REQUESTS Wednesday, December 30 Texans assistant coaches are available to media Practice: 11:20 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. on the field following practice. Head coach Gary Gary Kubiak: After practice Kubiak will speak with the media after every Open Locker Room: 1:45 p.m. practice session. Media can speak with players in the locker room Wednesday Conference Calls Texans head coach conference call: 9:00 a.m. All interview requests for the Houston Tex- Texans player conference call: 2:00 p.m. ans executives, coaches and players should go Patriots head coach conference call: 10:15 a.m. through the Texans media relations department. For out-of-town media requesting Texans Thursday, December 31 players and assistant coaches, please send your Practice: 11:20 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. request to Kevin Cooper at kcooper@houston- Gary Kubiak: After practice texans.com, and his office phone is (832) 667- Open Locker Room: 1:45 p.m. 2035, or Zac Emmons at zemmons@houstontex- ans.com, and his office phone is (832) 667-2220. Friday, January 1 Requests for owner Bob McNair, general Practice: 11:05 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. manager Rick Smith and head coach Gary Ku- Gary Kubiak: After practice biak should be sent to the attention of VP of Com- Open Locker Room: 12:15 p.m. munications Tony Wyllie. His e-mail address is [email protected], and office phone is Saturday, January 2 (832) 667-2203. No Media Availability Sunday, January 3 Houston Texans vs. New England Patriots, Noon CT 2009 TEXANSTEXANS VS. AT PATRIOTS BILLS TTeXHEADeX COACH AN INFORMATION AN S S GARY KUBIAK BILL BELICHICK Houston Texans Head Coach New England Patriots Head Coach 2006-09: Head Coach, Houston Texans 2000-09: New England Patriots, Head Coach 2003-05: Offensive Coordinator, Denver Broncos 1997-99: New York Jets, Asst. Head Coach/Second 1995-02: Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks, ary Denver Broncos 1996: New England Patriots, Asst. Head Coach/ 1994: Quarterbacks, San Francisco 49ers Secondary 1992-93: Running Backs, Texas A&M 1991-95: Cleveland Browns, Head Coach 1989-90: New York Giants, Defensive Coordinator/ In just four seasons at the helm, Gary Kubiak has Secondary become the winningest head coach in Texans his- 1985-88: New York Giants, Defensive Coordinator tory with 30 career victories, including the two 1983-84: New York Giants, Linebackers best seasons in team history. One of Kubiak’s pri- 1981-82: New York Giants, Special Teams/Lineback mary goals upon arriving in Houston was to create ers a home field advantage at Reliant Stadium, and he 1979-80: New York Giants, Special Teams has made great strides in that direction. The Tex- 1978: Denver Broncos, Asst. Special Teams/ Asst. ans have posted a 19-12 home record since 2006, Defensive Coordinator including 6-2 marks in each of the last two seasons. 1977: Detroit Lions, Asst. Special Teams, Tight The 2008 Texans matched their record from Ends/ Wide Receivers the year before, going 8-8 for a second straight year 1976: Detroit Lions, Asst. Special Teams despite an 0-4 start in the aftermath of Hurricane 1975: Baltimore Colts, Special Assistant Ike, which devastated much of Houston and south- east Texas. Houston became just the 10th team in Bill Belichick is in his 35th season as an NFL coach NFL history to start a year 0-4 and finish at or above and is the only head coach in NFL history to win three .500. Houston was one of 11 teams to go 8-4 or bet- Super Bowl championships in a four-year span. In his ter over the last 12 games and nine of those teams nine seasons as Patriots head coach, Belichick has were in the playoffs. The offense enjoyed its most won 126 games. Belichick was hired on January 27, productive season, ranking third in the NFL and 2000 and is in his 10th season as Patriots head coach. setting a franchise record with 6,113 total yards. Through nine seasons, Belichick has delivered three Year two for Kubiak saw the team achieve the Super Bowl championships, four conference titles, best record in franchise history, finishing 8-8. The six division crowns and 14 playoff victories. Belichick Texans won three of their last four and five of their returned to the Patriots as head coach after three sea- last seven to finish the season at .500.