Kubiak wins in first trip back to NRG
Houston native Gary Kubiak said it was “business as usual” when he returned home as the head coach of a visiting NFL team for the first time Saturday night. But this time he left NRG Stadium a winner, something he hadn’t done since the second Sunday of the 2013 season, after rookie Denver quarterback Trevor Siemian fired a 26-yard touchdown pass to Corbin Louks with only 1:44 left. It gave the Broncos a 14-10 preseason victory over the Texans.
“Obviously, I’ve got a lot of games and a lot of years invested (in Houston),” he said. “It’s great to see a lot of people and a lot of those players that were a big part of my life for a long time. But the reality is the game’s over and the preseason moves on. We’ve got a lot of work to do to get ready for the season.
“If you last long enough in this league, you’re probably going to back to a few places.”
Kubiak last coached a game in Houston on Dec. 1, 2013, when his Texans fell to New England 34-31 for their 10th defeat in a row. After a loss at Jacksonville four nights later, he was fired with three weeks remaining in his eighth season. Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, who has that job now with the Broncos, took over as interim coach but went 0-3 as the streak reached 14.
A little over a year later, Kubiak returned as the offensive coordinator for Baltimore but suffered through another miserable afternoon as the Texans held the Ravens to a season-low 217 yards of total offense and intercepted three of Joe Flacco’s passes.
Peyton Manning is Kubiak’s quarterback’s now, though, and although Manning didn’t generate any points, the first-year Broncos coach thought he “operated fine” running Kubiak’s system, the same one that got the Texans into the playoffs in 2011 and 2012 for the only two times in franchise history before the bottom fell out the following season.
“We didn’t help him in a couple situations … a couple of big drops on third downs. But I thought he was sharp running the group, running the nohuddle, for a first time out.”
Despite solid play from backup Brock Osweiler and, obviously, Siemian, Kubiak replied to a question about whether the Broncos had “a quarterback controversy” by saying, “I don’t think so. We’ll come back and play (Manning) a little more next week.”
Manning was on the field for four series in the first half. He and former Texans tight end Owen Daniels seem to be developing some chemistry. Daniels, Kubiak’s fourth-round draft pick in 2006 when he was a rookie head coach in Houston, caught four balls for 25 yards. One of his receptions went for 11 yards and gave the Broncos a first down at their 48, but they went backwards from there after a first-down holding penalty and had to punt.
Manning finished 8-of14 for 52 yards, also finding Demaryius Thomas open twice for 11-yard gains. Denver’s other 100-pluscatch Pro Bowl receiver, Emmanuel Sanders, sat out with a hamstring strain. The Texans’ defense, in turn, went without defensive end J.J. Watt, nose tackle Vince Wilfork and cornerback Johnathan Joseph.
Osweiler, who has backed up Manning on the Denver depth chart for the past three seasons, was responsible for the only big play of the first half, hitting backup receiver Andre Caldwell in stride for a 58yard touchdown with 7:21 left. Caldwell had gotten behind Texans third-year corner A. J. Bouye.