...In the Bullseye.com: Looking Ahead After Loss to Patriots

Well, that sucked. The New England Patriots turned out to be the Alpha and Omega of Houston's demise after an 11-1 season held such promise of a berth in the AFC Championship Game and perhaps a Super Bowl appearance.

Instead, the Texans fell twice in Foxboro to complete the year 13-5 and leave themselves and their fans questioning what they must do to dine with the elites of their conference.

Do Matt Schaub and Head Coach Gary Kubiak have what it takes to get this team to the top after both finished meekly, unable to score red zone touchdowns and play without the lead for much of the season's final six games?

What can Wade Phillips do to prevent the defensive meltdowns like we saw twice in New England and also against the Colts and Vikings? Are we in need of better personnel, better schemes or both?

It seemed as if the Texans grew stale and predictable on both sides of the ball down the stretch, unable to come up with a new wrinkle to surprise their opponents and produce big plays.

I suspect Rick Smith will give all the feature players another year to perform and will try to add a few more key parts through the draft and free agency, but don't expect any major changes. On the one hand, the Texans are clearly in the best position - on and off the field - that they have ever been in their 10-year existence, but it is also true that the community starves for a team that won't disappoint when the weather turns cold.

Free agency begins in March, and the Texans have but a few key players that might depart (Connor Barwin, Glover Quin) yet they also don't have a great deal of cap room to work with.

April brings the draft, and the Texans will start from their lowest draft spot in history although they should get some compensation picks after losing Mario Williams to free agency last year.

They will also get Brian Cushing and Brice McCain back from injuries to shore up the back seven. More help is needed though. It should be a subtle but important off-season, one with few big headlines but one that will tell the tale of whether this club has peaked or if they have another climb in them.

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