In one week they lost their starting quarterback Matt Schaub in a blowout win, and the next game backup Matt Leinart breaks his collarbone in the second quarter after playing well.

They now turn to TJ Yates, a rookie fifth round draft pick out of North Carolina, to lead them in the playoffs. Sitting at 8-3, the Texans are tied for the best record and are riding a five game win streak.

If there was ever a team that you would feel comfortable with a rookie QB, it would be the Texans. They have the first ranked defense, the second ranked scoring defense, and the third ranked run defense.

They are also second in point differential behind the 11-0 Green Bay Packers.

Head coach Gary Kubiak said Yates is picking up the offense faster than “any QB I’ve ever seen.” He could be blowing smoke, but that doesn’t seem like Kubiak’s style.

Curiously but not surprisingly, the Texans worked out several QBs this week. They landed on former Panthers and Browns QB Jake Delhomme to serve as Yates’ backup.

I actually believe this is more of an insurance policy than an eventual take over plan. Delhomme will remain the backup so long as Yates does not implode.

Local radio has been interesting. Many fans feel the Texans will bow out in the first round, and many believe there will be a Jeff Hostetler situation and Yates will just keep them in games by taking care of the ball, letting the run game and defense win playoff games.

I actually believe it is somewhere in the middle. I believe they can win a home game in the playoffs (depending on who they play obviously), but I’m no where near believing they can win it all.

Texans fans need to remember Hostetler spend several years as a backup to Phil Simms before taking over that year—Yates is a rookie.

Unfortunately they will have to wait another year to compete for the Lombardi trophy, but they are well on their way.

At this rate, I’m going to keep posting articles until someone brings in the ol Gunslinger.  Sure he’s old and probably washed up, but I would think Favre provides a higher ceiling than Yates.  Houston has one of the best running games in the league and with star wideout Andre Johnson back to full health, Favre wouldn’t need to carry the load.  He would simply have to rely on his play-action skills and the deep ball to Johnson.

Favre would give Houston the potential to make a deep playoff run.  He might still have some of his old magic left.  I certainly would rather have a semi-retired Favre at quarterback over Yates and Clemens.   Those two do not provide the spark that could power a team to a victory.  Favre can do just that.

The chances of this happening are probably slim.  However, I think it’d be good for football.  The Texans would instantly become one of the most talked about teams in the league.  Many are sick of Favre, but you must admit that having him around does provide some quality entertainment.

The fact of the matter is the Texans had a brutal schedule to open the season, but not only that they had several injuries that slowed down their 3-1 start.

Mario Williams and James Casey were lost for the season with torn pectoral muscles, and Andre Johnson has missed the last two weeks due to a significant hamstring injury. He is expected to be out at least a couple more weeks.

You could argue that Williams and Johnson are the Texans’ best players on either side of the ball, and while the defense has actually played well in the absence of Williams, the offense clearly misses the best wide receiver in football.

Johnson’s absence brought attention to the fact that the Texans are not deep at wide receiver, which is probably the main reason they traded for Derrick Mason.

Mason, 38, had fallen out of favor with the Jets in just a few weeks, so when the Texans came calling it wasn’t hard to work out a deal.

Still, the offense has not been good and they will have to be this weekend.

The Texans were expected to walk away with this division when Peyton Manning went down, Jacksonville turned to Luke McCown, and the Titans were coming off a season in which they lost 8 of 9 down the stretch.

The Texans beefed up their defense in the offseason, had the league’s best wide receiver, the league’s rushing champion, and were getting a bunch of players back who missed last year.

It really did feel like their year. I’m not saying that is gone, but in order to get back that feeling they need to make a statement in Tennessee.

Losses to the Saints, Raiders, and Ravens don’t necessarily look bad, but a loss to the Titans and a 3-4 record will have fans calling for heads.  Gary Kubiak has to get it done this weekend or be faced with a 1.5 game deficit in the division, and two behind the Titans in the loss column.

This weekend is about as must-win as it gets, and you’ll get a good look at the Texans’ character by the way they respond.

Injuries have taken away their best player on either side of the ball (Andre Johnson, Mario Williams), and their second half issues are still very much alive.

In all three of their losses the Texans have had a lead in the third quarter only to squander it away. In fact, in their games against Oakland and New Orleans they had the lead entering the fourth quarter.

What is a 3-3 record could very easily be 6-0 if the Texans could just figure out how to win in the second half. They are the best first half team in the NFL, as one would say.

One of the biggest problems for the Texans has been putting the ball in the end zone after moving the ball successfully, which has been a common theme for Gary Kubiak’s squad.

They went inside the Saints 20 yard line three times and settled for field goals in a stretch in the second and third quarters, and managed just two field goals in the second half against Oakland.

It got even worse yesterday as the Texans scored a touchdown to go ahead with 8:36 left in the third quarter, but was shut down the rest of the half and could not preserve the lead.

The Texans are No. 8 in the NFL in yards per game, but only 14th in scoring. If the Texans expect to be a playoff team, that gap has to be closed.

This weekend marks the first matchup between the Texans and the Tennessee Titans, who took over the lead in the division this weekend despite being idle.

The winner will grab the early edge in the division that was once thought of as a one-horse race. The Titans have had something to say about that with a 3-2 start, but the Texans should still expect to win.

If they give yet another game away, fans will start calling for Kubiak’s head again.

In his absence, Ben Tate has proved why the Texans made him a second round selection in 2010. But can the Texans survive the season if Foster suffers a tear in that hamstring?

Now, the first two weeks of the season were against two of the worst defenses in the league, but that shouldn’t take away from what Ben Tate accomplished.

Despite being labeled the “backup” in both games, he leads the NFL in carries, runs for first downs, and is third in rushing yards.

Coach Gary Kubiak said Arian Foster is day-to-day, and they will lean on Ben Tate for a while. That is good news for fantasy owners, not so much for Foster.

The first real test of the season comes this weekend when they take on the Saints, but if the preseason showed us anything, Tate is going to run all over them.

He had nine carries for 95 yards in that game, and it was against the Saints’ first team defense. Granted, most teams don’t gameplan for those games, but it’s still impressive.

The Texans will need that to pull of the road win; if they go in to  New Orleans and come away victorious, they have to be among the favorites in the AFC.

Judging by what we saw from Week 1, the Texans are going to run away with the AFC South. They absolutely dismantled the Colts, who were without No. 18. We pretty much knew that was going to happen, but the way it happened was incredible.

They scored 34 points before halftime and cruised through the second half, allowing just one garbage time touchdown to Reggie Wayne. Other than that, the defense played hungry and looked fast.

Under Wade Phillips, the unit will be able to flourish.

In the first season as a team’s new defensive coordinator, Phillips is 4-4 in leading those teams to the playoffs. Nothing I saw in Week 1 from the other AFC South teams makes me think he’s going to miss out on No. 5.

The Jaguars and Titans played an unexciting contest in Jacksonville, with the Jags prevailing 16-14 after nearly blowing a 13-0 lead.

Both teams had problems all over the place, and neither looks up to competing with the Texans, who are by far the most complete team in the division.

The Texans made it look like they are on a mission to destroy their AFC South opponents, but also look like a team who’s tired of being disrespected.

Don’t be surprised to see them make a deep playoff run.

Apparently the man is a 37-year old family friend of Smith’s who was attending a birthday part Smith held Saturday night. The drowning was reported 9:30 Sunday morning.

Hopefully this doesn’t have an ill effect on Smith’s season, whether emotionally or legally.

Among those were wide receivers Jeff Maehl and Terrence Toliver, and runningback Chris Ogbonnaya (Texas Longhorn).

The Texans also released Brad Maynard, meaning they are now in the market for a new punter. Here is an excerpt from John McClain of the Houston Chronicle on the cuts.

Notable veterans waived were linebacker Xavier Adibi, defensive end Damione Lewis, receiver Dorin Dickerson, tight end Anthony Hill, receiver Trindon Holliday, safety Quentin Demps, safety Torri Williams and linebacker Stanford Keglar.

Others placed on waivers were running back Javarris Williams, fullback Zac Pauga, receiver Jeff Maehl, receiver Derrick Townsel, offensive tackle Cole Pemberton, center Cody Wallace, center Howard Barbieri, offensive tackle Peter Hendrickson, defensive end Scooter Berry, defensive end John Graves, guard Andrew Gardner, linebacker Mister Alexander, nose tackle Guy Miller, outside linebacker Steven Friday and snapper Scott Albritton and linebacker Matt Marcorelle

At training camp I (and everyone else) was impressed with all of the young talent the Texans had at those positions, and that’s likely what is leading to the release of these guys who were considered second string players when the season started.

It will be interesting to see if Terrence Toliver and Jeff Maehl make the team as backup wide recievers—they have looked good in camp and can contribute on special teams.

Inside linebackers Steven Friday and Darryl Sharpton have looked better than Adibi so far—in the beginning of camp Adibi was subbing for Brian Cushing with the first team, he was quickly replaced by Sharpton as a backup.

The Texans have a ton of young talented linebackers, it will be interesting to see who they keep. Brian Braman and Jesse Nading looked great during preseason games and will be hard to let go.

The deadline to make cuts is 6 pm ET.

It revealed some white discoloration (where my Seinfeld fans at), to which Foster referred to as “anti-awesomeness.” Hundreds of Fantasy Football team names were changed at that very moment.

Foster’s Tweet.

Of course everyone in the sports world had to have their take on whether or not he should be tweeting pictures of his injury. The funny part is he did this in defense of himself, yet most doctors are saying he’s going to be out longer based on the MRI he showed everyone.

Hamstring injuries should not be taken lightly, and that’s exactly what Foster seems to be doing. Hopefully the Texans’ medical staff knows better.