Johnny Cash » weak link in that pairing

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Arian Foster started right, found nothing but defenders between him and the goal line, then headed the other way.It was his best decision of the day.Foster ran for 127 yards and a touchdown, which came on a nifty cutback move, and the Houston Texans beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 27-13 on Sunday to stay in the muddled AFC playoff picture.It gave the Texans (7-6) consecutive wins for the first time in nearly three months.Fosters 1-yard scamper early in the fourth quarter was the play of the game. After quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick got stuffed on third down, the Texans lined up for a field goal before calling time out and opting to go for it. Foster emphatically told coach Bill OBrien he wanted the ball.Foster initially looked he would be stopped for a loss, but he eluded a tackle, headed in the other turned the other way and high-stepped into the end zone.I was just screaming for him to give me the ball, Foster said. We took a step in the right direction.The Texans didnt gain any ground on AFC South-leading Indianapolis, which edged Cleveland, but they kept pace in the crowded wild-card race.We are in a must-win situation now, star defensive end J.J. Watt said. We have strung two together and we need to continue to do it. We need to go on the road (at Indy) and try to do it again this week.The Jaguars (2-11) led 13-10 at halftime, but did little after the break.Jacksonville managed just 4 yards in the third quarter, and Blake Bortles threw his NFL-leading 16th interception of the season. The turnover gave Houston its best field position of the day and led to Fosters TD run.If you watch Foster, hes a hard guy to bring down, Jaguars defensive tackle SenDerrick Marks said. That was a big emphasis, and we didnt do it.With a chilly, misty rain falling and Jacksonville trailing, fans didnt bother returning to the stands. EverBank Field was mostly empty during the second half, an embarrassing sight for a franchise fighting to overcome attendance problems.Jacksonville managed 73 yards in the second half, holding the ball for just nine-plus minutes, and Bortles nearly threw three more picks.There were probably some drops and mishandling of the ball that were definitely caused by the rain, Bortles said. But thats part of it. You have to be able to play in all weathers because theyre not going to cancel the game.J.J. Watt created major problems, finishing with three sacks and five quarterback hits. The Jaguars lost starting right tackle Austin Pasztor last week and went with unproven veteran Sam Young. Not surprisingly, Watt dominated the matchup. He was most disruptive once the Texans took a double-digit lead.Watt interrupted a reporter who asked about his two sacks.How many? Three. Just checking, Watt said. Those suckers are hard to get.Fitzpatrick completed 13 of 19 passes for 135 yards. He had a 4-yard run in the second quarter that put the Texans up 10-7.Jacksonville retook the lead on Josh Scobees two field goals, the first coming on a fourth-and-inches play at the Houston 16. Coach Gus Bradley, with nothing to lose in another losing season, opted to play safe.It ultimately backfired.And the Texans eventually took advantage. They had 124 yards, six first downs and no third-down conversions in the first half. Making matters worse, they lost receiver Andre Johnson because of a concussion.Johnson left early in the second quarter after being hit in the head by Jaguars linebacker Telvin Smith. Teammates rushed to his side and motioned for trainers. Johnson eventually walked off the field under his own power, but later headed to the locker room for good. He ended the day with four receptions for 17 yards.It was scary to see Andre lying there, Foster said. You saw the love and what he means to this team with all the players and coaches out there around him. It showed how much he means to our team. But I talked to him and he said hell be all right, so thats good.The Texans regrouped in the locker room — and it showed it the second half.It wasnt the prettiest win, but we stuck together and played as a team and got the win on the road, Texans safety Kendrick Lewis said. Were peaking at the right time. ... This is the time that you want to be playing your best ball and thats what were doing.NOTES: Foster topped the 100-yard mark for the 31st time in his career and the seventh time this season. ... Scobee became the first player in franchise history to score 1,000 points. ... Jacksonville now has lost 37 of its last 45 games, including 27 by double digits.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL Air Force 1 Cheap Wholesale . On Thursday theyll learn even more. 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And all things considered, the first 40 games have offered a little bit of everything from a hockey club that faced many questions in its first year under new management, with a new head coach and with a number of new faces in the lineup. However, with a recent dip in scoring, it seems some of the same old questions persist and several new ones have been raised after a somewhat troubling homestand.The Edmonton Oilers took a bold approach to free agency, giving money and term to a couple of fancy stats darlings. Numbers Game breaks down the signings of Benoit Pouliot and Mark Fayne.. The Oilers Get: LW Benoit Pouliot, D Mark Fayne and D Keith Aulie. Pouliot, 27, has been a hockey nomad, bouncing from team to team in recent seasons, but hes been pretty good at each stop along the way. While playing for four different teams (Montreal, Boston, Tampa Bay, N.Y. Rangers) in the past four seasons, Pouliot has put up strong possession numbers in each stop and hes been a pretty effective goal-scorer in limited time. He had a career-high 36 points in 80 games for the Rangers last season. The issue that crept up with Pouliot, and was particularly notable during the Rangers Stanley Cup run, was his alarming tendency to take offensive zone penalties and that lack of discipline can be frustrating but, in the grand scheme, Pouliot has been drawing more penalties than he takes. He has good size and plays enough of a physical game to get under the skin of the opposition from time to time and Pouliots willingness to go to the net could give him a shot at a 20-goal season if he ends up playing a bigger role in Edmonton. Where Pouliot fits with the Oilers is a bit of a question. He looks like a third-line left winger -- thats the role that hes handled effectively -- and the Rangers do have enough talent on the right side that they could have some decent offensive production out of their third line. While Pouliot is lauded by those who appreciate advanced stats, most would do a double-take before signing any third-line winger to a five-year contract. Maybe five years and $20-million was the cost of doing business, but that does seem like a serious commitment, particularly if there isnt room for Pouliot among the Oilers top six forwards. The Rangers have some holes to fill up front, and knew that they would not be abble to get him re-signed at market prices, especially when the Oilers were willing to spend at this level.dddddddddddd Fayne is a 27-year-old defenceman who has good size (6-foot-3, 215 pounds) and plays a sound defensive game, something that is sorely needed in Edmonton. There were two defencemen in the league who played tough opposition, started more shifts in the defensive zone yet finished with a better shot differential per 60 minutes than Fayne. One was Zdeno Chara and the other was Faynes frequent partner, Andy Greene. The interesting part of that possession success is that, last season, Fayne was the weak link in that pairing -- Greene had much better possession stats (54.2 Corsi%) without Fayne than Fayne had (47.2% Corsi%) without Greene -- but that was a flip of the year before, when Fayne was at 57.2% without Greene and Greene was 54.4% without Fayne. Ultimately, Fayne has been a reliable defensive defenceman who should upgrade the Oilers and, signed for $14.5-million over four seasons, hes not unreasonably priced if he can handle top-four minutes in Edmonton. The Devils have some young defencemen on the way up, including Jon Merrill, Eric Gelinas and Adam Larsson, that can take over some of the minutes that Fayne had been playing. 25-year-old Keith Aulie is a 6-foot-6 defenceman who has played 136 career NHL games, but has been crushed in possession terms, over his four NHL seasons. Hard to imagine that hes anything more than a spare part, even for the Oilers. While Pouliot and Fayne arent marquee names, they have been quietly solid players for several seasons. While the Oilers went long on Pouliots term, they were aggressive to acquire a couple of players that ought to make them more competitive. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '