End Zone Party

Ben Tate turns into a touchdown machine to honor Auburn, surprising Tom Brady and the Patriots

Show Ben Tate the end zone and he'll find a way to get in.

At least on this weird Sunday. For with the hopeless, hapless, run allergic Houston Texans facing the New England Patriots, the Texans' No. 2 running back turned starter seized the moment. Two in the first half to be precise. And another in the fourth quarter.

Twice with the Texans in Patriots territory early, Tate took the ball and produced a touchdown with little sign there was on there. He weaved in from eight yards out to give the Texans a 7-0 lead and then pulled off several cuts on a 20-yard run to push the advantage to 17-7. With the end zone anywhere near, Ben Tate's busted ribs no longer seemed so crippling.

Houston had two rushing touchdowns in 11 games. Tate equaled that by halftime.

Yes, the Texans were scoring on the ground.

Coming into the afternoon, Houston had two rushing touchdowns in 11 games. Two. Tate equaled that by halftime. He averaged 14 yards on two touchdown carries and 3.3 yards on 10 other first half carries.

Is that end zone drive?

Tate added a third touchdown early in the fourth quarter. By then, he was rolling whenever he touched the football.

For the first time this season since all-everything tailback Arian Foster hobbled off against Kansas City, never to be seen again this season, the Texans could say they had a legitimate running game.

The Texans started their first drive on their own 44-yard line — thanks to a 50-yard Keshawn Martin kickoff return. They began their second on their own 48 — thanks to the defense forcing a three and out.

This time, they'd do something with it. Case Keenum hit Andre Johnson for 29 yards and 13 yards on back-to-back plays. Tate then reminded the Texans of what a rushing touchdown looks like, darting in from the 8-yard line.

The field position bonanza continued when Johnathan Joseph picked off Brady on a third-and-three play, returning it to the Patriots 31-yard line. That set up a 43-yard Randy Bullock field goal. Suddenly, the Texans led 10-0.

The Patriots outscored the Texans 83-42 in two games last season — back when the Texans were actually good — with Brady tossing seven touchdown passes.

The Texans dubbed this game "Homecoming" and trotted out Robert Horry (Rockets), Larry Dierker (Astros), Brian Ching (Dynamo) and . . . . Chester Pitts (Texans)? . . . to represent the city's four major pro sports teams. Someone needs to tell them you don't schedule Tom Brady for Homecoming though.

Then again, maybe Tate felt like he was back in college too. The former Auburn standout certainly had plenty of War Eagle inspiration from Saturday.

He ran with purpose — and decisive cuts. Especially when the end zone was near.

Ben Tate struggled for much of the season, but he turned into a touchdown creator against the New England Patriots.

Photo by © Michelle Watson CultureMapSNAP.com

Ben Tate struggled for much of the season, but he turned into a touchdown creator against the New England Patriots.

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O'Brien Talks Tough

Tough new sheriff: Bill O'Brien sounds like the anti Kubiak, vows to be hard on Texans players

Photo by Rob Carr Getty Images

Bill O'Brien admits he missed the NFL.

Bill O'Brien certainly hasn't walked timidly into his new job as the head coach/franchise savior of the Houston Texans.

With large posters of J.J. Watt and Andre Johnson flanking him on either side of an elaborate press conference stage, O'Brien didn't pay homage as much as he demanded a new standard.

"To me it's about accountability," O'Brien said. "It's about demanding. It's about putting together a fast, physical football team."

In other words, Mr. Nice Guy went out the window with former Texans coach Gary Kubiak. O'Brien mentioned "accountability" and "demanding" several times in his introductory press conference Friday afternoon at Reliant Stadium. And you can bet the chorus sounded like sweet music to Texans owner Bob McNair.

CultureMap was the first news outlet anywhere to report that O'Brien was the Texans' top choice to be the team's new coach way back on Dec. 18. This was a McNair driven pick from the beginning and it is the 44-year-old O'Brien's toughness that drew the owner to the former Penn State coach and Bill Belichick assistant.

"To me it's about accountability. It's about demanding."

And McNair himself certainly talked tough on introduction day.

"I'm ready to kick 2013 the hell out the door," McNair said. "Not acceptable. Not what we're going to do in the future."

McNair went on to talk about O'Brien having shown he's willing to make the hard decisions — something he clearly felt was lacking as the Texans spiraled from Super Bowl schemers into a 2-14 death march in 2013.

"Some coaches who have been players still think of themselves as players rather than the head of an organization," McNair said. "And have trouble making difficult decisions."

Kubiak, of course, played quarterback for the Denver Broncos. As for an inability to make tough calls? Just look at how long Kubiak stuck with a flat-lined Matt Schaub and how he kept trying to go back to Schaub even after the Case Keenum call was made.

O'Brien noted that "there are a lot of good football players on this team." He also declined to take any pressure off himself and describe this makeover of a team with the worst record in the NFL as a rebuilding job.

"There are a lot of pieces in place here," he said. "It's all about hard work . . . Quick turnaround, rebuilding are labels. I'm not into all that."

Tom Brady Tough?

All in all, it's an impressive opening performance for a first-time NFL head coach. O'Brien knows how to command the stage. Texans general manager Rick Smith talked about the new coach's "charisma."

O'Brien even makes sure to work in the obligatory Texas joke about the cowboy life.

"Right after this, I'm going to go out and buy my first pair of cowboy boots," he said.

It's already becoming clear there will be one cowboy in charge of these Texans. One who happens to be a hard-nosed Northeast guy who's probably still most famous for getting into a sideline screaming match with New England Patriots golden boy quarterback Tom Brady.

"I'm ready to kick 2013 the hell out the door."

O'Brien downplayed the incident, but it's clearly helped burnish his taskmaster image.

"You know it's a competitive sports," O'Brien said. "Tom Brady's a great friend. These things happen. The thing that people don't understand is that 30 seconds after it was over, we were sitting together and going over pictures (of game action)."

The Texans players are clearly intrigued by O'Brien. Veteran center Chris Myers sat amongst the press at the stadium and listened to the new head man.

There will be a lot more change coming to the stadium. Smith hinted at as much when he noted how the Texans needed a coach who can guide young players.

It's hard to imagine O'Brien tip toeing around that change. He plans to meet with all the remaining Texans coaches Saturday (as with any head coaching change, it's unlikely many of the current assistants will be kept by O'Brien). He'll tackle the quarterback question later, though it's clear Keenum is still in the picture.

Almost every new NFL head coach sounds good on introduction day. Especially when the team brings out a marching band for the occasion. But O'Brien sounds tough and no nonsense.

Just what Bob McNair wanted. This is his call. His makeover. His tough guy.

Bill O'Brien will not call the Houston Texans a rebuilding team.

Photo by Scott Halleran Getty Images

Bill O'Brien will not call the Houston Texans a rebuilding team.

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