With each TD, Johnson's mood, team gets better

Four games and four defeats into the current season, Andre Johnson’s pent-up frustration was boiling over. A Texan since 2003, he was beginning to wonder if there was ever going to be an end to the losing, and he expressed those fears publicly one day before practice.
But that was then. To be sure, Johnson’s mood has brightened considerably.

“It’s a big relief,” Johnson said, having experienced a third victory in a row as a Texan for the first time after Houston’s record 35-6 blowout of the Bengals. “Everyone’s happy. I think all the guys out there are having fun playing. I don’t think that was going on at the beginning of the season. We’re rallying around each other, supporting each other. That’s a big thing.”

Stay just a little bit longer
Johnson, the NFL’s new season leader in both receptions and receiving yards, is having so much fun he flat refused to leave the field in the fourth quarter — never mind that the game was well in hand and his receivers coach, Larry Kirksey, wanted him to sit a spell. So what if he had endured an unduly physical afternoon, twice taking shots that separated his head from his helmet?

“Larry was calling for me to come out, but I was like, ‘I’m all right. Don’t worry about me,’ ” Johnson said. “When you’re in the flow of the game and the adrenalin is flowing, you don’t want to come out. You’re doing something you love. So I just stayed out there.”

Going in, he knew he’d have to shoulder a larger than normal burden because third receiver André Davis was incapacitated with a broken finger. But that was perfectly OK with Johnson, who, in October alone, has 41 catches for 591 yards. The former figure would rank him second to himself in the league standings for the season.

Still, after conspiring with quarterback Matt Schaub last week to help dig the Detroit Lions into a deep hole early, the two-time Pro Bowler was reluctant to pronounce the Texans’ offense fully in sync. Pressed on the same subject Sunday, though, he conceded with a sly smile, “I’d have to agree with you now.

“It seems like everything is working. We’re communicating a lot better. We’re just playing smart as a team. We’re playing some real good football, probably the best football we’ve played in a long time these last two weeks.”

Passing carries the day
Head coach Gary Kubiak will tell you that his offense’s success is predicated upon an effective running attack, but the passing game is suddenly so potent that axiom no longer holds true. The Texans were ineffective on the ground early — gaining only 27 yards in the first half — yet Schaub wound up throwing just one more incompletion (four) than he did touchdown passes (three). Two of those went to Kevin Walter, who might have been the happiest player in a Texans uniform.

After all, he used to be a Bengal. These days, with Cincinnati staggered at 0-8, to be an ex-Bengal is a good thing.

“We have a lot of guys who can make plays,” Johnson said. “I was real excited for Kevin today, going up against his old team and getting two touchdowns. He was pretty pumped before the game and that’s why he had the offsides penalty. ”

The previously little-used David Anderson also stepped up and caught a touchdown pass, finding himself wide open.

Asked how the Texans have evolved from their dismal start, Walter pointed out a conspicuous stat — turnovers. Schaub hasn’t thrown an interception in three of his last four games.

“If we don’t give the ball away,” Walter said, “we have a chance to win every game we play.”

And, lately, they have.

(chron.com)