Wide receiver Jacoby Jones' flip into the end zone highlighted the Texans' win over Dallas in the 2007 preseason. In the 2008 preseason, the Texans and Cowboys face off on national television.
In the preseason schedule released by the NFL today, the Houston Texans will host the familiar foes the Denver Broncos and Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Reliant Stadium. Houston will travel to New Orleans for the second time in preseason and will play at Dallas in the final season of Texas Stadium.
Houston's game with the Cowboys will be played on Friday, August 22 at 7:00 pm CT on CBS. It will be the third time in Houston's seven years of existence that the Texans will have a nationally televised preseason game.
"That's great," Texans head coach Gary Kubiak said. "The preseason, it adds a little emphasis to it, of course us playing Dallas but to have it on a Friday night (as well)."
Houston is looking to improve on its preseason record of 2-2 from a year ago.
Houston takes on the Denver Broncos (August 7-10) for the fifth time in the last seven seasons. The Texans are searching for their first preseason win against Denver. Houston played the Broncos in preseason from 2003-06. In the last game, the Broncos walked away with a 17-14 win in the Mile High City in 2006. Denver last played at Reliant Stadium in 2005, winning 20-14.
The following week (August 14-17), the Texans travel to New Orleans. Houston picked up the first preseason win in franchise history over New Orleans 13-10 in the Super Dome on August 10, 2002. It will be the third road game the Texans have played in a domed stadium. Houston improved to 2-0 in domes when they beat the St. Louis Rams 27-20 in 2006.
Kubiak said the Texans plan to travel to New Orleans early to work against the Saints in practice.
"I like the way our preseason's setting up," he said. "I'm going to talk to (Saints head coach) Sean (Payton) here this afternoon. We're going to take our team down there hopefully on Tuesday night, practice against New Orleans Wednesday, Thursday, by our self on Friday and then play them on Saturday, so it's just a little change of pace, change of scenery during camp, and work against a very good football team."
{QUOTE}Houston travels to Dallas to face the Cowboys on August 22. The game will be televised on CBS. Houston has played two previous preseason games on national television. Houston's first preseason game was played on ABC when they faced the New York Giants in Canton, Ohio in 2002. They later played the Denver Broncos in 2006 on NFL Network.
Houston is seeking its first win in Dallas during the preseason. These teams have met four times during the preseason, with the home team winning each matchup. The two teams will play for the Governor's Cup, marking the second year the cup could exchange hands during the preseason. Houston beat Dallas, 28-16, last year at Reliant Stadium to take possession of the hardware.
"Every time we play them, it's a rivalry," Texans Pro Bowl wide receiver Andre Johnson said. "Even like when we played them last year in the preseason game, it felt like a regular season game. Their guys were amped, our guys were amped and we went out and gave a good showing, so I'm pretty sure it'll be the same way this year."
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The Texans will close out the 2008 preseason at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (August 28-29), the only team the Texans have faced during preseason in every year of their seven-year history. Houston picked up its first preseason win over the Buccaneers, 16-13, in 2006 at Reliant Stadium.
"I look forward to (the preseason) just because it's the time where football, the NFL, is just beginning, so this is an exciting time for everyone and we definitely will be excited about that," Texans Pro Bowl linebacker DeMeco Ryans said. "It's a process of where we're just trying to get better week in and week out with our team during the preseason weeks... It's (a time) to see where our team is, see where the camarederire is between all of our guys, see how we're playing and meshing well together."
Specific dates, times and television participants of all preseason games will be released at a later date. The NFL will release the Texans 2008 regular season schedule in April.
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Houston Texans 2008 Preseason Schedule |
