October 5, 2012
Perfect September Bodes Well
by Bob Hulsey

The Astros have more variations of suck than the Hoover Vacuum Co. The Rockets recently sold their souls to trade for Dwight Howard only to be spurned and left with Jeremy Lin and a lot of spare parts. The UH Cougars seem to have backslid with Case Keenum gone and Kevin Sumlin facing stiffer competition in College Station.

So, if it seems like the Texans are getting a lot of media love in Houston, there’s little competition for them. The difference this time is that the media love is expanding throughout the country and the Texans are playing worthy of it.

Behind Gary Kubiak’s offense and Wade Phillips’ defense, the Texans appeared to hit on all cylinders during the month of September with the only word of caution being that they weren’t seriously challenged. Houston romped past the Dolphins, Jaguars, Broncos and Titans with only a desperate late spurt in Denver providing any fourth-quarter tension.

The tandem of Arian Foster and Ben Tate have led the NFL in rushing attempts and have only fumbled once over the first four games. The passing of Matt Schaub has produced seven touchdown throws to one interception and the offensive line leads the league with just three sacks allowed.

Conversely, the defense has the NFL’s top sack artist (J.J. Watt - 7.5) through four weeks and leads the NFL in yards/game (273) allowed and points/game (14) allowed.

Life could hardly be better for the AFC’s last undefeated team.

The next three weeks before the Halloween bye seem a bit stiffer than what they have faced so far but perhaps not as daunting as it seemed when the schedules were released last spring. They have a Monday night game on the East Coast against the sniping New Jersey Jets and two home dates against the Green Bay Packers and Baltimore Ravens, two squads that have struggled more than expected out of the gate.

Even one loss this month hardly stops their stampede to the division title and possibly the overall home field advantage in the playoffs. What could stop them would be a key injury or two. Losing Schaub, Andre Johnson, Watt or Jonathan Joseph could seriously alter the equation.

But let’s not dwell on the negative for now. Life gets easier after the bye week with a December date in New England probably the only game that doesn’t, at this point, look like a probable win. Oh, there may be another stumble or two along the way but a 13-3 or 12-4 season looks very possible at the moment as long as no disasters strike.

For beaten-down Houston sports fans, it almost seems too good to be true. Whether it is another false hope or the real deal is still left to be written but, for now, all systems are ‘go’.

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