It’s fitting that the Texans were in “Music City” on Sunday, because they played quite a familiar tune. See if you recognize it:
Matt Schaub left the game with an injury. The Texans lost an offensive linemen to an injury (two actually) for the rest of the season. The Texans didn’t score in the third quarter. The Texans logged some sacks, but for the rest of the game failed to generate much of a pass rush. The Texans committed more turnovers than they created.

And so on. I’ll spare you the music analogies for the rest of this article, but I think you get the picture.

Matt Schaub is starting to look fragile.
There’s still no question that Schaub is a huge upgrade from the tragic David Carr. However, it has to be alarming that even with the much-improved offensive line protection this season, Schaub came out of yet another game with injury. This time it’s a separated non-throwing shoulder, and coach Gary Kubiak said after the game that Schaub “might play again this season.” Not good. Schaub has been inconsistent this season, and has a 1-to-1 touchdown ratio this season with 9 TDs and 9 INTs. Kubiak and GM Rick Smith have their careers with the Texans staked to Schaub, and it’s going to be hard to ignore the fact that they will not have a second-round pick in the draft because of the trade they made to acquire Schaub. It’s pretty much a push at this point as to who got a better deal in the trade - but with the injured shoulder Schaub may not be able to help his case much the rest of the way.

Another early lead, another loss.
One thing this team doesn’t have on either side of the ball, is grit. Yeah, they showed some earlier in the season in that near-comeback against Tennessee, but you know what? You don’t get credit for that unless you get the win. Moral victories are for high school teams. I’ve lost count of the examples, but once again in this game the Texans went completely limp after they gave up a big play to the other team. Jacoby Jones made one of the worst mistakes of the season when he didn’t call for a fair catch on a punt return. He muffed the catch, and the Titans recovered. When the defense went out on the field, they just got flat-out steamrolled. Yes, they were tired. Yes, the Titans had all the momentum… but you can’t let a turnover beat you TWICE. Once because of the great field position it gave Tennessee, and once because it deflated and demoralized the Texans’ defense. That’s happened over and over again this year, and you have to look at the defensive coaches as much as the players in that situation.

Turnovers and dropped passes killed the Texans today.
Andre Johnson had another excellent game, but also had a rare drop. Jacoby Jones followed up his horrible punt return fumble by dropping a drive-ending sure-thing first down pass. Andre of course hasn’t made many mistakes this year, but the rest of the team continues to show a lack of concentration and focus. It wasn’t nearly as bad as it has been in other games, but the bottom line is that turnovers continue to kill this team, and today they couldn’t have come at worse times. In addition to Jones’ fumble, backup QB Sage Rosenfels threw a late pick which ended any chance they had to come back and win.

A continuing bright spot - Mario Williams.
Mario’s pretty much the only defensive lineman that had his name called today. He logged 2.5 more sacks, giving him 8.5 for the season. If he can continue to get pressure on opposing quarterbacks as he has so well in the second half of this season, we can (hopefully) put all the “Mario is a bust” talk to bed for good. Two weeks after out-playing Reggie Bush, Mario got his against Vince Young today - but Vince had his best game in weeks because other than the three total Texans’ sacks, he pretty much had all the time he needed to throw and run all day.

What are the rules for Kubiak’s coaching doghouse?
I’m not sure how this works. Several weeks back, running back Adimchinobi Echemandu fumbled on his first carry during a game, and was effectively put on the shelf until today’s game. Yet, today - rookie Jacoby Jones made one of the silliest mistakes of the season - muffing a punt when he should have called for a fair catch - and he was right out there as a receiver on the next offensive possession. The result? Jones killed a drive by dropping a sure-thing first down pass. I really can’t fault Kubiak for keeping the kid out there. You want to give a young player like that a chance to come in and redeem himself, but today the gamble didn’t pay off.

With Schaub hurt, what’s next for him and the QB position?
In what has become yet another lost season for the Texans, it’s time to start playing for next year. Seeing Schaub on the sideline with his left arm in a sling begs the question - what’s the point of risking further injury to him the rest of the year? In my opinion, Schaub is still a young, relatively inexperienced quarterback who needs as many snaps as possible to maximize his chances for success next season. If he’s healthy, he needs to be out there. Gary Kubiak is certainly not the type of guy to ‘baby’ a player, and his prized quarterback should be no different. He knows what he’s going to get with Sage Rosenfels - a capable, yet inconsistent backup. Even if he were to finish the season with impressive stats, he’s not going to challenge Schaub for the starting spot next year. The Texans certainly shouldn’t rush Schaub back to the field, but to be overly cautious with him would deter his development - especially when you consider the injury is not to his throwing shoulder.

When will the Texans win a division game?
For all the media talk about how the AFC South is the strongest division in the NFL, the Texans aren’t doing themselves any favors by being the doormat. At 5-7 overall and 0-4 in the division, you have to wonder if they will get an AFC South win at all this year. All that’s left is a road trip to Indianapolis who will be fighting for playoff positioning, and a home game against the Jaguars who will also be trying to improve their seed in the playoffs. The Titans, Jags, and Colts have clearly asserted themselves as the Texans’ superiors, and if the fortunes of this franchise are ever going to turn for the better - changes are going to have to come.

Hopefully Houston can build some momentum with the next two games, both home contests against playoff contenders Tampa Bay and Denver, respectively. To do so, they’ll have to do it without starters Schaub and Fred Weary. Weary and his backup Chris White are both lost for the rest of the season - and let’s go ahead and assume Ahman Green won’t start either. Seems to be a safe bet.

Next week the Bucs will roll into Reliant with tons of momentum after Reggie Bush giftwrapped a road win for them in New Orleans. The season’s down to four games for Houston. Let’s see if they can at least match their 6-10 record from last year.

Please visit www.HoustonDiehards.com for much more!

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