HOUSTON TEXANS WEEKLY RELEASE - NFL.com

TEXANS OFFENSIVE OVERVIEW
against the Colts. Foster set team records with 33 carries for
231 yards and tied a team record with three rushing touchdowns.
Foster’s breakout day marked the second-best season-opening
rushing performance in NFL history (O.J. Simpson,
250 yards in 1973).
Foster, who was undrafted coming out of Tennessee, has
continued his assault on opposing defenses, leading the NFL
with 1,147 yards rushing on 223 carries (5.1 average) and is
leading the league in yards from scrimmage with 1,600, 91
first downs gained rushing touchdowns with 12. Priest Holmes
is the only undrafted running back to produce more yards
through 10 games in a season than Foster did this season,
rushing for 1,012 yards through the first 10 games of 2002.
Foster is third among NFL running backs with 453 yards receiving
on 48 receptions and is tied for the NFL lead with six
100-yard performances this season. He has scored multiple
touchdowns in five games.
Foster spent the first 10 weeks of 2009 on the Texans’ practice
squad but came on strong once he was elevated to the active
roster, finishing fourth on the squad with 256 yards rushing.
The Texans bolstered their backfield with the addition of veteran
RB Derrick Ward immediately following the preseason.
Ward led the Giants in with 1,409 combined yards in 2008, rushing
for 1,025 yards (5.6 average)and catching 41 passes for 384
yards. He spent the 2009 season with Tampa Bay. Ward has
experienced a resurgence in Houston, scoring touchdowns in
three straight games for the first time in his career earlier in
the season.
Ward ranks second on the team with 216 yards on 36 carries
(6.0 average). In Week 4 at Oakland, Ward rushed for 80 yards
on 12 carries, including a 33-yard touchdown run in the first
quarter for his first points as a Texan.
Despite missing the last five games of 2009 with a shoulder
injury, RB Steve Slaton led the team in rushing for the second
Arian Foster set Texans rushing records with 33 carries
for 231 yards and tied a team record with three touchdowns
in the season opener against Indianapolis.
straight year with 437 yards on the ground. Now healthy, Slaton
ranks third on the team with 93 yards rushing.
FB Vonta Leach has played in all 70 games he’s been with the
Texans since joining the team mid-way through the 2006 season
and has developed a reputation as one of the best blocking
backs in the NFL. Head coach Gary Kubiak called Leach’s performance
in the 2010 season opener the best he’d seen from
the seventh-year vet as he helped clear the way for Foster’s
record day. Leach has also proven to be a reliable receiver out
of the backfield with 75 career receptions for 516 yards and
four touchdowns.
WIDE RECEIVERS
The Texans receiving corps, led by All-Pro Andre Johnson,
continues to be one of the deepest and most dangerous
groups in the NFL. Johnson is tied for second in the AFC in
receptions with 65 and is sixth in the NFL with 869 yards and
a team-leading five touchdowns receiving despite missing
Week 4 at Oakland due to injury.
Johnson became the only player in NFL history to record at
least 60 receptions in each of his first eight seasons when he
caught his 60th pass of the season against Tennessee in Week
12. Two of his touchdown catches came when the Texans
needed it most, forcing overtime in Week 2 against Washington
and snaring the game-winning score against Kansas City in
Week 6 with 28 seconds remaining in the game.
Johnson tied a team record with 12 receptions and had 158
yards receiving, 34 of which came on the game-tying score, in
the Week 2 win at Washington.
Johnson led the league in receiving yards for the second
consecutive year in 2009 with 1,569 and caught a career-high
nine touchdown passes. Johnson has 643 career receptions
for 8,761 yards and 46 touchdowns. Since 2006, Johnson has
been the most productive receiver in the NFL, averaging 91.1
yards per game.
Kevin Walter starts opposite Johnson for the fourth straight
year and ranks third on the team with 31 receptions for 384
yards and is second on the team lead with four touchdowns.
In 2009, Walter caught 53 passes for 611 yards and two touchdowns.
Since joining the Texans in 2006, Walter has caught
226 passes for 2,844 yards and 18 touchdowns, tied for the
third-most in Texans history.
Fourth-year pro Jacoby Jones has become more involved
in the offense in 2010, adding to his versatility as a returner
on special teams. Jones hauled in a career-high six passes
against Washington, including a crucial third down conversion
in overtime. He ranks fourth on the team with 27 receptions
for 255 yards and a touchdown despite missing Week 5 with
a calf injury.
Jones caught a career-high 27 passes for 437 yards and six
touchdown catches in 2009. In four seasons, Jones has caught
72 passes for 922 yards and six touchdowns.
David Anderson turned in the best season of his career in
2009. The fifth-year receiver out of Colorado State caught 38
passes for 370 yards, both career highs. Since being picked in
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