In four games rolling under the public radar, the Houston Texans looked like the most complete team in the NFL. In two games under the lights of prime time, the Houston Texans have looked like, well, the Houston Texans.

An injured Brain Cushing (in cap) and members of the Houston Texans defense look on during the Green Bay Packers 42-24 rout Sunday night at Reliant Stadum. (beaumontenterprise.com)

Following a Monday Night Football struggle to beat the New York Jets, the Texans on NBC’s Sunday Night Football were thoroughly whooped by the depleted but desperate Green Bay Packers, 42-24, before the largest regular season crowd ever at Houston’s Reliant Stadium.

“We got our tails kicked,” is how Texans head coach Gary Kubiak put it.

While history will tell us that Aaron Rodgers threw six touchdown passes in knocking Houston from the unbeaten, it is quickly becoming obvious that it is not the 2011 NFL MVP who will be remembered as the player who knocked the Texans from superior to mediocre.

That infamous distinction belongs to Jets guard Matt Slausen, whose controversial second quarter cut block of Texans linebacker Brian Cushing cost Houston more than its 2011 defensive MVP and leader. Slausen’s blindside helmet to Cushing’s left knee cost the Texans their swag.

None of the Texans appeared to address the absence of Cushing after this one. Packers head coach Mike McCarthy, in saying it did not affect his game planing, summed up the impact those in the Houston locker room could not or would not bring themselves to admit:

“He’s an outstanding player,” McCarthy said. “I mean, clearly he’s probably the most productive player on a very good defense coming into the game.”

The most productive player on Sunday night was Rodgers, who started fast, throwing scoring passes to James Jones and Jordy Nelson for a 14-0 first-quarter lead that knocked Houston off balance and began the process of forcing the Texans away from the ball-control attack that serves them best. » Continue reading “Packers Hand Houston Texas-sized Whoopin’”

Three weeks before Halloween but that didn’t stop Gary Kubiak and Rex Ryan from pulling from their respective bags of tricks.

We saw end-arounds, throw-back screens, misdirection, runs from punt formation, onside kicks and, of all things, Tim Tebow behind center.

But when it came to deciding Monday night’s meeting between Kubiak’s Houston Texans and Ryan’s New York Jets, old fashion football ultimately prevailed.

Arian Foster rushed for 152 yards and a touchdown as the Houston Texans beat the New York Jets and improved to 5-0. (rantsports.com)

Arian Foster rushed for 152 yards, Shayne Graham kicked three field goals and the Texans defense held off Mark Sanchez and the Jets, 23-17, Monday Night in East Rutherford, N.J.

Texans’ defensive lineman J.J. Watt deflected three passes, one that led to an interception that killed a first-half Jets scoring opportunity, and he had a sack that took them out of another chance in the second half. Kareem Jackson had a fourth-quarter interception that all but ended the Jets’ hopes of an upset.

Foster, who carried 29 times and averaged 5.2 yards per rush, scored on a 13-yard run with 11:11 left in the first half giving the Texans a 14-7 lead they struggled to pad but would not relinquish in joining Atlanta as the league’s only 5-0 teams.

Matt Schaub completed 14 of 28 passes for 209 yards and one touchdown for Houston, which was hardly the dominant team it had been in winning its first four games convincingly.

In addition, the Texans may have lost star linebacker Brian Cushing, who is scheduled to undergo an MRI on Tuesday, according to reports. Cushing was cut by Jets guard Matt Slauson and injured his left knee early in the second quarter. He would walk off the field but he did not return to the game.

For the Jets (2-3), Tebow rushed 5 times for 19 yards, converted a first down on a 3-yard run out of punt formation, and threw one pass, which appeared to be dropped. » Continue reading “Texans still perfect after surviving Jets”

Arian Foster has rushed for more than 2,800 yards and scored 26 touchdowns over the last two seasons in the run-first Houston Texans attack.

The Houston Texans love to pound the rock.

Their 546 rushing attempts in 2011 were equal to the most in the NFL. Only Houston and Denver ran the ball at least 500 times last season. The Texans were one of only four teams that ran it more than they threw it last season.

Running the ball is what Texans Coach Gary Kubiak loves to do. He loves the balance that a strong running game provides.

It is his Zen.

So it’s no wonder he wasn’t happy following Sunday’s 30-10 victory over the Miami Dolphins when his team averaged just 2.4-yards per carry and gained only 83 yards on the ground.

“That’s the mark of a good team – you’ve got to run it and finish the game,” Kubiak told local media on Monday. “We didn’t do that.”

Blow up the right side of your offensive line and pound a back with a knee that is less than 100 percent against one of the league’s elite run-stopping defenses, and it’s no wonder the totals were disappointing.

For the Texans, disappointment is also born of tremendous expectations from a unit that ranked second in the league last season at 153.0 yards per game.

During the offseason, right tackle Eric Winson and right guard Mike Brisiel left via free agency, adding chaos where there was once continuity.

Four of the five starters had been together going back four seasons. All five had made up the starting unit each of the past two seasons.

In 2011, Winston, along with left tackle Duane Brown, left guard Wade Smith and center/guard Chris Myers started all 16 regular season games. Brisiel started 13. Their 2012 replacements, right tackle Derek Newton, had no starts as a rookie, and right guard Antoine Caldwell, had three starts at center with Myers moving over to guard. » Continue reading “Texans Must Pound The Rock To Achieve Balance”

Two teams with huge Super Bowl expectations this season are the Houston Texans, coached by Gary Kubiak (L) and the San Francisco 49ers, coached by Jim Harbaugh (R).
Credit: Fox Sports Houston

Imagine a Houston Texans vs. San Francisco 49ers Super Bowl.

It’s easy if you try.

Two dominating defenses.

Receivers who can fly.

Imagine the ball-control running games; old-school football, all would say.

You could say I’m a dreamer. But I’m not the only one.

A Texans-49ers matchup in Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans is more reality than a dream and somewhere beyond possibility on the road to probability.

Expectations are growing in Houston and San Francisco. Imaginations are running wild.

• In the inaugural AP NFL32 poll — the NFL version of the AP Top 25 poll for college football — the panel of 12 national voters (nine veteran NFL sportswriters and three former players: Rich Gannon, Cris Collinsworth and John Lynch) ranked the 49ers fourth and Texans sixth heading into the first week of the season.
• According to at least one Vegas-based sportsbook, the 49ers are 9/1 and the Texans are 12/1 to make the Super Bowl, third and fourth, respectively, behind New England and Green Bay.
• Both teams are listed among the Baltimore Sun’s “One of these 12 teams will win the Super Bowl.”
• “If there is one team built to stop the trend of passing-gone-wild and take the Lombardi Trophy with an old school approach, it’s the Niners,” writes Vinnie Iyer of The Sporting News.
• “[Houston] Will win [the] division easily; healthy Matt Schaub makes Texans Super Bowl worthy,” writes Clark Judge of CBSSports.com in his AP NFL32 ranking comment . » Continue reading “Imagine A Texans-49ers Super Bowl”

Trindon Holliday returned three kicks for touchdowns in four exhibition games and that was enough to earn him a spot on the Houston Texans’ 53-man regular season roster.

Electrifying kick returner Trindon Holliday would not be denied on the field and that Houston Texans’ head coach Gary Kubiak could not ignore.

And returning three kicks for touchdowns in four exhibition games apparently was just enough for the 5-foot-5 former track star to impress his coach and survive the team’s final cutdown to the mandated 53-man regular season roster.

Kubiak told the Houston Chronicle that Holliday “has been exceptional” and earned his spot.

In addition to keeping Holliday, the Texans kept veteran John Beck as the third quarterback behind Matt Schaub and T.J. Yates and released rookie Case Keenum, who set NCAA passing records at the University of Houston.

Among Friday’s roster moves, Houston:

• Acquired fullback Tyler Clutts from Chicago in a trade for third-year cornerback Sherrick McManis
• Waived receivers Jeff Maehl and Juaquin Iglesias
• Released veteran fullback Moran Norris.

Receiver DeVier Posey, the team’s third-round pick, survived the cut.

Posey, from Ohio State, was injured during camp and saw limited time in games without a catch before Thursday night when he had two catches for 93 yards and turned a Beck pass into an impressive 80-yard scoring play in the 28-24 victory over the Minnesota Vikings.

Clutts (6-2, 260) played 16 games for the Bears last season, catching eight passes for 48 yards. He is a traditional blocking fullback. The Houston Chronicle reports that he will backup H-back James Casey.

Teams have until 9 p.m. ET to reduce their rosters to 53 players.

The full list as posted on NFL.com.

Roster juggling is expected to continue throughout the day Friday before the deadline and again beginning Saturday, when teams add players to their practice squads and sift through the 704 released players for upgrades.

By no means are the 53 names on the roster tonight the same 53 that will be on the roster late next week when teams put in their final work before the Week 1 openers.

Follow on Twitter @JD_Parenti

Trindon Holliday of the Houston Texans has returned a kickoff and a punt for touchdowns this summer.
Credit: Zimbio.com

The Houston Texans figure to take full advantage of the 75-player roster limit when they face the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday to close out the exhibition schedule.

OK, maybe they only figure to use the bottom two thirds of that roster.

For a veteran team with few of its final 53 roster spots unaccounted for, there is zero incentive to play the regulars and risk injury before the Sept. 9 season opener against the Miami Dolphins.

So why watch? To see the long shots that you’ll need to know when they make the team, of course. After all, we can only root for uniforms until we are able to identify with the humans wearing them.

What few battles remain for the Texans figure to be on display against the Vikings.

Journeyman John Beck will start at quarterback with rookie Case Keenum to follow in one final exam for the No. 3 QB gig, assuming the Texans decide to keep more than Matt Schaub and T. J. Yates. The performances here could decide both.

If the Texans are to keep a legitimate fullback (in addition to H-back James Casey), veteran Oran Norris is fighting to be that guy.

Diminutive speedster Trindon Holliday, in his third try at making an NFL roster, has had success as a kick and punt returner this summer but he has struggled with ball security and that has left him apparently vulnerable to the dreaded Turk, who comes calling on Friday when all teams must get down the the 53-man regular season limit. » Continue reading “Preseason Week 4: Long-Shot Texans Worth Watching”