You know I was talking about Detroit and Cincy. And if you're calling a win over Miami a huge success, then you have low expectations my friend.
The Miami Dolphins defeated New England, San Diego, Buffalo and Denver. Not an easy task. The Fins are no pushover...yet the Texans offense lit them up DESPITE the pressure and hits on Schaub.
The Detroit Lions almost beat the Redskins and the Bears in Chi-town. The Texans handled the Lions easily until the defense had a brain fart but were never in danger of losing the game.
The Cincy Bengals almost beat the Redskins, took the Giants to OT and held Tony Romo to 179 yards passing and two turnovers. And the tough Jags were supposed to beat the Bungles...and didn't. Matt Schaub and the Texans were super efficient against Cincinnati.
Those were quallity wins by the Texans, doing what they were supposed to do.
Matt Schaub held up despite vicious hits by the Titans, Steelers and the Dolphins. He gets no credit for that? Jared Allen just put a nasty hit on the knees. That's it. Nothing to do with being brittle. Romo and Brady got taken out well before Schaub did. Then there's Kyle Orton. This is just a nasty NFL season for injuries.
The fact is, Schaub isn't as athletic as Favre, Romo, John Elway or even Warren Moon to evade pressure. Schaub doesn't have the super offensive lines that protected less than flight-footed Manning, Marino and Dan Fouts. (But Schaub could use some evasion tactics from Marino.)
The Texans need to get simply get that running game to be even more than it is despite showing improvement over last season. They need to find a way to pound away and get decent yards against the physical teams...keep the pressure off Schaub. If the Texans can get a Chuck Muncie the way the Chargers used him to help keep pressure off Fouts...that WILL BE a GREAT help. As it is, there a need to complement Slaton.
Schaub is very productive and sharp when they protect him from the dogs. And that's why the Texans need to really strengthen the running game in order to alleviate pressure on the potent passing game. We now see that the Texans offensive line is a finesse zone-blocking one that better produce the run more effectively since it is not one for big, burly pass protection.