Texans vs. Cardinals: Teams will meet for 3rd time in history

Nov 3, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Texans running back Ben Tate (44) rushes during the fourth quarter against the Indianapolis Colts at Reliant Stadium. The Colts defeated the Texans 27-24. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

This Sunday, in Arizona, the Houston Texans and the Arizona Cardinals will meet for the third time in their franchises history, the first time since the 2009 season.

In their brief history against each other, the Texans and Cardinals are each 1-1 with the Texans winning the first game on Dec, 18, 2005 by a 30-19 score. The Cardinals won the second meeting on Oct. 11, 2009 by a 28-21 score.

In the ’05 meeting it was David Carr who was the Texans’ quarterback, as the former No. 1 overall pick was 22-of-33 for 150 yards passing with no touchdowns.

The three touchdowns in the game came from running back Jonathan Wells with two, and one touchdown from Vernand Morency on a 25-yard run in the second quarter. In fact, all three touchdowns in that game by Houston came in the second quarter.

The rest of the Texans’ scoring came from field goals by Kris Brown who made three, as Houston had 24 of their 30 points scored in the second quarter.

In the ’09 loss in Arizona, the Texans scored their 21 points in the second half with two touchdown passes from Matt Schaub to Andre Johnson in the fourth quarter. The third quarter score was off a 1-yard run by Chris Brown.

The players in this upcoming game have changed some since the ’09 game with Case Keenum now the starting quarterback for the Texans and Carson Palmer now under center for the Cardinals. Kurt Warner was the Cardinals quarterback in the ’09 game.

There have been other changes since the ’09 game, but one constant for the Texans is Andre Johnson who is coming off his best game of the season in Week 9 where he had nine receptions for 229 yards and three touchdowns.

Two previous meetings have been competitive, and I look forward to this third meeting being in the same category.

This should be a fun one to watch.

The game will kickoff at 4:25 EDT.

For more information on past games, visit: the Football Database.