Today in 2007 - Tennessee Titans vs Houston Texans

October 21, 2007 – Today in 2007, the Titans went to Reliant Stadium to take on their AFC South rivals in their former home town, the Houston Texans, in a Week 7 matchup.

Tennessee got on the board first with a 52 yard field goal by Rob Bironas.  Houston answered with 26 yard fumble recovery and return for a touchdown by DeMeco Ryans.  Bironas kicked a 25 yard field goal to close the gap at the end of the first quarter, 7-6.

The Titans dominated the second quarter.  Bironas kicked his third field goal of the day, this one from 21 yards.  LenDale White had a 1 yard touchdown run and Bironas kicked two more field goals from 30 and 28 yards.  Tennessee led 22-7 at halftime.

In the third quarter, it was still all Tennessee.  Bironas kicked his sixth field goal of the day from 43 yards.  Chris Henry added to the score with a 4 yard touchdown run.  Tennessee led 32-7 at the end of the quarter.

The Texans refused to give up.  In the fourth quarter, Sage Rosenfels threw a 7 yard touchdown pass to David Anderson and made a 2 point conversion.  Rosenfels then threw a 6 yard touchdown pass to Kevin Walter and the score was 32-22.  Bironas kicked his seventh field goal of the day, but Houston came back with a 7 yard touchdown pass from Rosenfels to Jeb Putzier and then took the lead on a 53 yard touchdown pass from Rosenfels to Andre Davis.  The score was 36-35.

But Tennessee would not be denied.  Bironas kicked his NFL record setting eighth field goal to win the game.  The Tennessee Titans beat the Houston Texans 38-36.

For the Texans, Rosenfels passed 22-35 for 290 yards with 4 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.  Kevin Walter had 6 receptions for 97 yards and a touchdown.  Andre Davis had 4 receptions for 88 yards and a touchdown.  DeMeco Ryans recorded Houston’s only sack for the day. 

For the Titans, Kerry Collins passed 25-42 for 280 yards.  LenDale White had 27 rushes for 104 yards and a touchdown.  Roydell Williams had 5 catches for 124 yards.  Cortland Finnegan and Kyle Vanden Bosch each recorded a sack.  Keith Bulluck had an interception and Nick Harper snagged 2 picks.

Houston went to 3-4 with the loss.  They finished the season with an 8-8 record, fourth in the AFC South.  Tennessee improved to 4-2 with the win.  They finished the season at 10-6, third in the AFC South.  They lost to the San Diego Chargers in a wild card playoff game.

Trivia

• This was Gary Kubiak’s second season coaching the Texans.  He became head coach in 2006 and is still there today.
• This was Jeff Fisher’s 14^th season coaching the Titans.  He coached the team from 1994-2010.  He was named head coach when the team was the Houston Oilers.
• Kubiak backed up John Elway for the Denver Broncos from 1983-91.
• Fisher played for the Chicago Bears from 1981-84.
  
• Fisher’s Bears beat Kubiak’s Broncos the two times they faced each other as players, in 1983 (31-14) and 1984 (27-0).  Both Fisher and Kubiak played in the 1984 game.
• Titans defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz is now the head coach of the Detroit Lions.
• Texans offensive coordinator Mike Sherman was the head coach of the Green Bay Packers from 2000-05.
• Bironas’ record 8 field goals in one game beat the record of 6 held by multiple players.

Here are some historical scores on this day for teams facing each other this week, on October 21,

1984 – Chicago 44 – Tampa Bay 9

2001 – Washington 17 – Carolina 14 OT

2001 – Minnesota 35 – Green Bay 13

2007 – Kansas City 12 – Oakland 10

Game stats can be found on Pro-Football-Reference.com at Tennessee Titans vs Houston Texans - October 21, 2007.