The Texans Deserve No Respect

- I miss Domanick Davis. His name has not come up much in the autopsies being performed by fans and the media, but compared to Ron Dayne and Sam Gado, memories of Davis are beginning to blur in my mind with those of Walter Payton. Sure, the Texans' O-line is not exactly blowing up the opposition's front seven, and the opposing secondary can camp out short and play the run with confidence since David Carr will apparently combust if he is forced to attempt a pass of more than 15 yards, but a running back who could simply get to the line of scrimmage in less than five seconds could only help the Texans' running "attack".

- Eric Moulds has been outstanding. Great move for the Texans who has provided exactly what we hoped he would provide.

- Seth Payne deserves better. All reports are that Payne is a pro's pro, and it really hurts to watch him go down again. Hopefully he will return sooner than early reports predicted, but with his past history of injury problems, one cannot feel too confident.

- Mario Williams continues to progress, in my eyes, if not in those of the mainstream media. He is certainly victimized several times a game by opposing linemen who are able to bait him into overrunning a play, but he is showing much more 'disruptability' up front. He was in the backfield several times yesterday afternoon. He is a project, but I still think he was the right pick.

- If Reggie Bush was on the Texans, he would currently have 112 catches for an average of 2.4 yards per catch and 18 runs for 42 yards.

- Did Thomas Johnson go to The U? I thought I saw him swinging a crutch against FIU on Saturday.

- First Quarter David Carr looked good yesterday, but his three successors stunk. Having no threat of a running game certainly does not help, but to me it seems that the first drive of each game, which are scripted in advance and with which David obviously feels quite comfortable, generally go quite well. David knows where the defense will be and where his receivers will be, and he is able to make a quick throw without really even reading the defense. However, once the flow of the game changes a little bit and things have deviated from the script the slightest scintilla, David reverts back to the old game of dumping down to the running back or firing a slant off his back foot into coverage, with or without pressure. His numbers may have improved this season, but I am not convinced that his quarterbacking skills are any better. I still agree that David is not the largest problem on the team, but I will stick by my belief that David will never QB a team in the NFL playoffs.

- Speaking of problems, was that Webster covering Terrell Owens and Patrick Crayton in the red zone yesterday? If it is just that easy to throw a fade pass to your big WR and gain yards at will, why do the Texans never use that route with Andre Johnson or Eric Moulds? Terrence Newman is not 6'4" and 225 pounds either, is he?

- The only thing worse than watching the Texans get pummeled by the Cowboys? Listening to Dick Enberg tell you about it.

- One thing that I hated about the Dom Capers era was that the franchsie appeared to embrace the philosophy of playing not to lose. With Gary Kubiak's background as a winner and an innovator on offense and the legend of Richard Smith's crazy, blitzing defenses, I was excited, not because I thought that the Texans were headed for the playoffs immediately, but simply because I thought that this year's edition would play an aggressive, exciting brand of football. Through five games, I have been extremely, extremely disappointed. If you know that you're outmanned from a talent standpoint, which seems undeniable, it seems to me that you're going to have to out-scheme or out-think your opponents by mixing up your formations and taking a few chances with your playcalling. Instead, Kubiak seems to have adopted Capers' hope that he can shorten the game by sitting on the ball on offense and pray that the Texans are within 14 in the fourth quarter. As in years prior, this strategy continues to be a loser.