Texans keep playoff hopes alive with win at Miami

MIAMI (Reuters) - The Houston Texans kept their hopes of a first playoff appearance alive with a 27-20 win at Miami on Sunday, all but ending the Dolphins'' post-season ambitions.

The Dolphins'' error-filled and injury-riddled performance left them 7-8 and relying on results from other games to have any chance of progressing.

"They knew all week that one team was going to come out of this game playing for pride at the end of this," Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano said.

"We are that team now."

Houston''s playoff chances are also out of their hands, but they have a chance to finish with a winning record for the first time since they joined the league in 2002.

"That''s why I came here, to get this team into a position like that," said Texans head coach Gary Kubiak.

"We''ve got an outside chance of making the playoffs next week and we have a realistic chance of becoming winners for the first time.

"There is a lot to look forward to and I am very proud of our guys."

Both sides went into the game knowing they had to win, but only Houston, who have never lost to Miami, played like a team in the last chance saloon.

Miami were strangely lackluster, however, allowing the Texans to score on each of their first five possessions, three of them ending in touchdowns.

Houston quarterback Matt Schaub was given the kind of time and space that Miami''s Chad Henne, who threw for 322 yards, could only dream of.