The Oakland Raiders may have fallen to 1-3 on the season, but they proved they don't give up when they're down 31-14 in the fourth quarter.
Bruce Gradkowski engineered what would have been one of the Raiders' most memorable comebacks, but was intercepted by Texans' safety Troy Nolan just inside the two-minute warning. The Texans went on to win, 31-24.
The NFL's leading rusher Arian Foster got shut completely down in Oakland in the first half, as the Raiders defense bottled him up for only three yards rushing in the first two quarters.
It was Foster's 74-yard touchdown romp in the third quarter and his ten-yard touchdown catch in the fourth that really hurt the Raiders.
Both offenses just cold scored as they pleased in the first half, and the Texans initiated the fireworks with a 33-yard touchdown run by Derrick Ward on the Texans' very first possession.
But as soon as Bruce was loose, the Raiders scored right back. Gradkowski marched the Raiders 80 yards in response and Michael Bush had his first touchdown run of the season.
The Texans would hit paydirt again before the end of the first quarter, with Matt Schaub's 11-yard touchdown toss to Joel Dreessen to make it 14-7 just 13 minutes into the game.
Gradkowski showed us again why he's made us all forget there ever even was a Jason Campbell. The Almighty one went 6-for-6 on a mid-second quarter drive that ate up five minutes of the clock and catapulted fullback Marcel Reese into the stands after his 13-yard touchdown catch. The game was tied 14-14.
But Arian Foster, whom the Raiders had shut down good in the first half, took his first carry of the second half and shredded the Raiders for a 74-yard touchdown scamper.
The rout was on when Foster caught a 15-yard touchdown at the end of the third quarter to make it 31-14.
Or was it?
Gradkowski marched the Raiders downfield against a complacent Texans defense, and hit Zach Miller for a 15-yard touchdown. The defense held, and Sebastian Janikowski's 39-yard field goal made it 31-24.
But the comeback was snuffed when a Gradkowski pass to Louis Murphy bounced from Murphy's hands and into those of the Texans, who then ran out the clock.
Joe Kukura is a freelance writer who wishes this thing could have just gotten cancelled by a fuel spill.
