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Osweiler kept it close until the final minutes, but the Texans couldn't hang on in Mexico City
Brock Osweiler threw for 243 yards in the Texans' 27-20 Monday night loss to Oakland. It was his most prolific output on the road this season.
In the Texans' first four road games, Osweiler had thrown for 175, 155, 131 and 99 yards. He had 182 after three quarters against the Raiders.
Osweiler finished 26 of 39, with one touchdown pass and one interception. He was sacked twice. He completed passes to eight receivers.
Also a remarkable thing happened throughout the game; some fans in control of a laser pointer the size of the Death Star repeatedly beamed a giant green light onto Texans players. This has been a staple of Mexican sporting events over the past few years and the NFL got its first taste on Monday night.
Brock Osweiler wasn't happy with fans in Mexico City shining laser pointers on to the field...https://t.co/I0ToUt93ii
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 22, 2016
It wasn't just a distraction on the television -- Texans quarterback Brock Osweiler said after the game the pointer hit him in the eyes "a couple of times."
In five road games, Osweiler is 1-4 with four touchdown passes and two interceptions.
After playing San Diego at NRG Stadium, the Texans return to the road for back-to-back games against Green Bay and Indianapolis.
Burfict may be unfixable, continues poor decision-making against Buffalo
The maddening side of Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict emerged again Sunday, just after he'd made a nice play in the team's loss to the Buffalo Bills.
Burfict had stopped quarterback Tyrod Taylor out of bounds for a 3-yard sack — and then he flipped off the fans in Paul Brown Stadium with both hands. After the sack, an assistant high-fived Burfict, who appeared to direct his double-barreled obscene gesture at fans — possibly of the Bills — seated behind the Bengals' bench. Teammate Vincent Rey appeared to push Burfict's hands down, but not before cameras caught the moment.
Typical Burfict behavior flicking fans off. Grade A Jerkoff that dude is! pic.twitter.com/MAJEm2ej2U
— Blitzburgh (@Steel_Curtain4) November 21, 2016
It isn't entirely clear what riled Burfict, but the Bengals were having an enormously frustrating day in a 16-12 loss that deeply diminished their hopes for a playoff spot at 3-6-1. Along the way, they lost wide receiver A.J. Green to a torn hamstring and running back Giovani Bernard to a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
Still, that's no excuse for Burfict, who has quite a history. He was fined $75,000 in October for allegedly stomping on the leg of New England running back LeGarrette Blount and memories of his performance in the playoffs last January linger. In the wild-card playoff game against Pittsburgh, Burfict hit wide receiver Antonio Brown after Brown couldn't bring down a high pass from Ben Roethlisberger. The hit sent Brown into the concussion protocol and resulted in Burfict's three-game suspension at the start of this season for repeated violations of player-safety rules.
As for obscene gestures and how they are punished, former Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel was fined $12,000 for flipping off the Washington Redskins sideline two seasons ago. Burfict would figure to draw a larger fine as a repeat offender. Over the course of his career, Burfict has been fined for more than $270,000.
Burfict is also being questioned for a late hit on Bills wide receiver Robert Woods. Woods caught a pass in the first quarter and already had been taken down by a swarm of Bengals defenders when Burfict came flying in to deliver a dangerous shot on the Bills receiver.
Hard to ever argue for Burfict when this is his approach. pic.twitter.com/Ri22EkBseZ
— Cian Fahey (@Cianaf) November 21, 2016
To make matters worse, Wood was injured on this play, missing the rest of the game with what reportedly is a left knee sprain.
#Bills WR Robert Woods, who has emerged as their top pass-catching threat, suffered a knee sprain, source said. Could miss some time.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 21, 2016
Woods' knee was contorted in an awkward direction, and Burfict may have made it worse by forcefully hitting him after he already was down. There's no word on whether the NFL will review that hit.
Rookies
Name/Position/Number
|
Team
|
Selected
|
Standing
|
This Week's Stats
|
Christian Westerman, OG - No. 63
|
|
5th round, 24th pick
|
Second-team right guard
|
N/A
|
D.J. Foster, RB - No. 27
|
|
undrafted
|
Third-team running back
|
N/A
|
Other Alumni on Active Rosters
Name/Position/Number
|
Team
|
Years at ASU
|
Standing
|
This Week's Stats
|
Lawrence Guy, DT - No. 93
|
|
2008-10
|
Starting defensive end
|
1 tackle
|
Terrell Suggs, LB - No. 55
|
Baltimore Ravens
|
2000-02
|
Starting outside linebacker
|
2 tackles, 1 sack
|
Will Sutton, DT - No. 93
|
|
2009-13
|
Second-team nose tackle
|
N/A
|
Vontaze Burfict, LB - No. 55
|
Cincinnati Bengals
|
2009-11
|
Suspended
|
11 tackles, 1 sack
|
Marcus Hardison, DL - No. 91
|
Cincinnati Bengals
|
2013-14
|
Placed on injured-reserve (Sep. 3)
|
N/A
|
Damarious Randall, CB - No. 23
|
Green Bay Packers
|
2013-14
|
Starting left cornerback
|
Injured Reserve
|
Brock Osweiler, QB - No. 17
|
Houston Texans
|
2009-11
|
Starting quarterback
|
26/39 243 yds. 1 TD 1 INT
|
Jaelen Strong, WR - No. 11
|
Houston Texans
|
2013-14
|
Second-team left wide receiver
|
N/A
|
Shawn Lauvao, LG - No. 77
|
Washington
|
2005-09
|
Starting left guard
|
N/A
|
Rashad Ross, WR - No. 19
|
Washington
|
2011-12
|
Second-team left wide receiver; starting KO RET
|
N/A
|
Notes
Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs only crashed the edged and sacked Dak Preskott once on Sunday for a 3-yard loss.
Before their matchup on Wednesday, Suggs had to settle for crashing Prescott's conference call with Baltimore reporters.
Hacksaw Smithers had a very important question for @dak on today's press call. pic.twitter.com/CAIPvpS8mn
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) November 16, 2016
This is how the question-and-answer session went down between Prescott and Suggs, who was eating a Reese's peanut butter cup throughout the whole exchange:
Suggs: "Hey, Hacksaw Smithers here, what do you think of Terrell Suggs and how he's been playing this year?
Prescott: "Who's there?"
Suggs: "This is Hacksaw Smithers."
Prescott: "He's a guy who's been playing in this league for a long time. We know how special of a player he is."
Suggs: "I appreciate you. Thank you."
As Suggs walked out of the room, Prescott then said, "Ask him how he feels about me."
Transcript is in accordance to what was reported by The Baltimore Times.