HOUSTON — Sage Rosenfels always believed he could be a starter in the NFL.
On Sunday he proved his case.
Rosenfels threw for three touchdowns to lead the Texans (6-7) to a 28-14 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He has won both games he’s started in place of the injured Matt Schaub.
Rosenfels lost two fumbles, but Tampa Bay (8-5) was only able to convert one into points.
“Sage has the desire and the goal to be a starter in this league,” coach Gary Kubiak said. “He’s always taken advantage of opportunities. … he took a big step forward in his career today.”
Rosenfels had started just two games in his seven-year career before this season.
“As a backup, you know sooner or later you’re going to get a chance and you just have to make the most of it,” he said. “I personally feel I am good enough to start in this league. But that’s not something I can control.”
The Buccaneers could have secured the NFC South title with a win, but instead their four-game winning streak ended because of miscues and ineffectiveness.
“Four game win streak or one game win streak, it really doesn’t matter,” defensive end Gaines Adams said. “We just didn’t get it done. Everything we did today was unacceptable.”
They started Luke McCown as Jeff Garcia missed his second straight game with a bruised back. McCown had a big game last week in a win over New Orleans, but was sacked four times and harassed for most of the day in this one.
“We got to do a better job, taking care of the football, finishing drives and a lot of things go into this game,” McCown said. “If we would have done that the outcome would have been different.”
He was 25-of-38 for 266 yards with no touchdowns and a fumble.
“Luke has got to get rid of the football,” coach Jon Gruden said. “There were some times when he needed to throw the ball away. Sometimes that’s the best play you can make.”
Mario Williams was in McCown’s face often in this one and sacked him late in the fourth quarter to push his sack total to 91/2 this season.
Rosenfels had two touchdown passes of 4 yards and one for 8, and Andre’ Davis added a score on a 97-yard kickoff return. The quarterback finished 27-of-36 for 209 yards.
In Darius Walker’s first NFL action; the undrafted Houston rookie finished with 46 yards rushing and 35 yards receiving.
“He went in there and it was nothing spectacular, but he was very solid,” Kubiak said.
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