(AP Photo/David J. Phillip; previous weekly reviews are here).
The following was a conversation that I had with another long-suffering fan of Houston sports teams after the Texans (0-4) became the first team in NFL history to blow a lead of at least 17 points in the final five minutes of regulation:
"Well, this loss wasn’t as bad as the University of Houston’s last-second loss to Joe Montana and Notre Dame in the 1979 Cotton Bowl."
"That’s right. It wasn’t even as bad as the deciding Game Five of the 1980 National League Championship Series when the Stros tied the score in the sixth, took a 5-2 lead in the seventh, fell behind 7-5 in the top of the eighth, tied the game again in the bottom of the eighth, and finally fell when the eventual World Series champion Phillies scored on two doubles in the 10th."
"And at least it was not nearly as devastating as the University of Houston’s Phi Slamma Jamma losing to Jim Valvano and North Carolina State on a tip-in at the buzzer in the 1983 NCAA Basketball Tournament National Championship Game."
"Well, come to think of it, it wasn’t nearly as bad as the Oilers’ 1991 NFL playoff loss to the Broncos on John Elway’s last minute 98 yard drive."
"And don’t even suggest that this was even close to being as bad as the Oilers’ 41-38 overtime loss to Buffalo the 1993 NFL playoffs after leading at halftime 35-3."
"Really, this wasn’t even as bad as the Houston Rockets’ 1997 Game Six Western Conference Final playoff loss to the Jazz on John Stockton’s last-second 3 pointer."
"Actually, this doesn’t even come close to being as bad as when Brad Lidge served up that gopher ball to Albert Pujols in the 2005 National League Championship Series when the Stros were one out away from the World Series."
But then my friend concluded before hanging up:
"However, this loss was right up there with those other ones."
Although there will undoubtedly be much gnashing of teeth around Houston this week because of the way in the Texans lost the game, remember that the game was lost primarily because a backup QB was trying too hard to win rather than not taking the risks necessary to win. I take some solace in that. The Texans host the revived Dolphins (2-2) next Sunday at Reliant Stadium.