TEXANS TOP CHIEFS IN RAINY NFL PRESEASON GAME

It was the sort of sloppy NFL preseason game that made the coaches more interested in escaping with as few injuries as possible than with winning or evaluating talent.  In a driving rainstorm at Arrowhead Stadium the Houston Texans outlasted the Kansas City Chiefs to take a 16-10 NFL exhibition victory.  It was the first game of the NFL preseason for both teams, and they were more or less happy to emerge unscathed from the deluge.

Sports players will bet on NFL games regardless of the weather, and Texans’ backers happily cashed tickets as Houston won outright as +2 road underdogs.  The 26 combined points scored went well UNDER the posted total of 38, suggesting that NFL bettors who were mindful of the weather were able to capitalize on the torrential downpour.

Texans’ coach Gary Kubiak summed up the team’s mindset in such awful weather conditions:

"It was a very sloppy night weather-wise and whoever plays the best defense and whoever doesn't put it on the ground usually finds a way to win in this league. I was glad we did, but we paid a price. We have some guys banged up and that usually happens when you get out there in a mess like that."

The biggest name to suffer an injury was Houston backup QB Rex Grossman.  Kubiak gave an early assessment of his condition:

"It looks like he has a pretty good hamstring. The first play when he went in he booted and said he felt his hamstring pull or pop, or whatever. So we'll have to wait and see."

Texans’ running back Ryan Moats had 52 yards on 10 carries, and was happy about just having some actual opposition:

"It felt good to finally hit somebody else for a change and not worry about hurting anybody else."
 
Texans QB Matt Schaub was generally pleased with his performance under the circumstances:

"We ran the ball effectively down in the red zone and we were able to finish that drive 95 yards for a touchdown. That's the way you want to finish off your day."

Kansas City’s head coach Todd Haley made his NFL coaching debut, and was nonplussed about it being a loss:

"It's your first game as head coach and I know it's just preseason, but it was an exciting, exciting moment for me. If you tell me the first real one's a win, I'll take this loss any day of the week. It's a special feeling when it's your team and a lot of responsibility comes with that and I didn't live up to my end of that. That's the part that's got to change."

Houston’s NFL preseason campaign continues on Saturday as they host the New Orleans Saints.  Kansas City will play against the Vikings at Minnesota on Friday night.  Houston will start the NFL regular season at home against the New York Jets on Sunday, September 13th while Kansas City will play the Ravens at Baltimore.