We were sitting in the Texans EZ (section 115, S row), and I swear it was deja vu all over again and again, three times ! It was the same freakin play to that big TE who was doin his best Owen Daniels immitation and somebody was throwing him strikes so Smith gets some credit. But Smith is mobile, moves well.
Hard to figure how he could be benched that long, given the kind of invesment the 9ers origionally made in him ? And the TE, he's got a new career start himself after that performance.
The only thing that saved the Texans was the clock, because San Fran had taken over the game after the second half started.

i don't think the different qb had much to do with it, other than maybe he was more mobile. i think that bush got worried about giving up the big play and not losing rather than keeping with the formula that had been working perfectly in the first half. i could be wrong, but i don't think they blitzed or used pressed coverage much at all in the second half. that made a huge difference.

All a prevent does is keep you from winning!! :(

Ok they have won the 2 games they should have won, to be 5-3. Now prove you have turned the corner and go into Indy and win.

A bad showing and the "so what" is still in play.

A solid showing with a lose mean nothing + or -. How you deal with the next four weeks does show me who this team is.

Today we saw the team play an ugly 1st half on offense, and yet they stayed with in themselves and ended up with a nice win.

You are indeed, a hard man to please, but I think we have crossed the rubicon myself. Peyton will be a very tough nut to crack.

That is the first time I have ever seen the Texans play bad, but simply be so much better than the other team that they won anyways. A very solid effort in a game that was very easy to look past.

C'mon man, get real and expecting to sweep Indy is not real, especially at this time with the kind of year Peyton is having. If we can split with those guys, that's enough for the time being IMO.

I don't think I am calling for a sweep of Indy, though I think we can sweep Indy. And I think we should play them tough.

Play like you did in Cincy and you win in Indy, play like you did in the 1st half today and you are in trouble against Indy.

I think the so what is that the team is learning to win, to have confidence in themselves as a team. And, it is nice as a fan to see the team actually win, perhaps dominate at times, not just luck out as maybe they had the previous seven years. I hope this continues to build for the team and us fans. A win next week isn't required, but perhaps, people give us a good chance now, both offensively and defensively to compete with Indy and not be surprized if we win or get close.

Learning to win is indeed one of the hardest things to do in the NFL. And being an expansion team with no history makes it doubly tough to learn to win. Kubiak has had his hands full teaching this team to A) be a team, B) believe in it's self, C) Win at home, D) Win anywhere.

Interesting stat, since 11/23 of last year this team is 5-2 on the road.

We are currently 3rd in the AFC in scoring,
We are 8th in pts allowed in the AFC. After the slow start, the team has played itself into a nice place.

If this team wins the next 3 games this town will be going nuts.
If they split with Indy and beat the Titans, then they will start to be noticed by average citizen in Houston.

I am hoping for the 3 big wins against the division rivals, this town will be nuts just like the House of Pain days. NBT and I have been waiting for this team to mature a long time, and they will have matured if they are 8-2. or 7-3.

Think about it, if we win on Sunday at Lucas Oil, what do you think the stands will be like on the Monday Night when VY comes to town? Utter chaos.

So what? We are 5-4 with a medium sour taste. Small issues still plague this team, but unlike the past, I am seeing a gleamer of hope.

Reason to believe:
We had a chance to tie or beat the Colts even though we had 13 penalties for 103 yds.
" " even though we did not get a 1st down until Indy had 16 of them.
" " even though we barely touched the ball in the 1st half, we out gain the Colts.
Our Defense is becoming a strength of this team.
Frank Bush and staff seem to be making key adjustments at half time.


Reason to not believe:
Schaub makes that pass or two every game that makes you think. "What?"
Our running game has not gelled.
Stupid Turnovers.
Bad coaching decisions

Agreed PK. And to be 10-6, with a shot at a playoff, we have to win 5 of the last 8. It can be done. Like you say we have waited a long time for that to happen. But we can't have anymore of those squirrely momentum reversing plays. We have to be airtight from here on, or it will for sure be, "So What"!

Check your math NBT, I'm afraid it's 5 of 7 which makes 10 wins more than possible, but unlikely.
I dunno, but really think our fate to miss the playoffs again this year was sealed way back in September when we lost those first 2 home games to the Jets and Jags. Dang, at the very least we should have won one of them, preferably the game against our division opponent, the Jags.
Remember that September schedule this year, unlike the one in 2008, was much more friendly but Kubiak failed to take advantage of it.

IMO We need to win the games in blue.


Mon. 23 TITANS
Sun. 29 COLTS
Sun. 6 @ Jaguars
Sun. 13 SEAHAWKS
Sun. 20 @ Rams
Sun. 27 @ Dolphins
Sun. 3 PATRIOTS

Colts is a throw away game. No way do we beat the Colts 3 times in a season, so the lose on Sunday did not matter, the next game against the Colts, if we win then we know we can, if we don't win, we might miss the playoffs. 6 teams have fewer loses than we do, and based on wins Pittsburgh/Cincy and San Diego have the inside track to the playoffs.

I agree with nunusguy, if we miss the playoffs, it's due to September lose to the Jags, and the Cards.

I could see us losing to the Dolphins. If we had only beat Jax and Arizona, then we wouldn't be having this converation.

IMO the season, if the season/seasons-success is defined as making the playoffs, comes down to winning both of the the next 2 games of which the first one vs the Titans will be more challenging than the second vs the Colts.
If we can accomplish that then we are down to winning 3 of the remaining 5 games which includes the Rams & Seahawks in Reliant. Of course this would all be predicated upon 10 wins getting us qualified into the playoffs.
I have to admit based upon the teams performance to this point in this year I have a different attitude about them than I've ever had and that's based upon our new and improved defense. Led by new Texan starters Antonio Smith, Bernard Pollard, & Brian Cushing we have for the first time ever a respectable verging on a superior defensive unit.

I agree the defense seems to have become the strength of our team. With the bye, perhaps a few injuries such as Marios shoulder and Cushings ankle will get a little better.

On offense, somehow Schaub has got to quit throwing those easy picks he seems to have a problem with this year. Maybe they can find something on film to help their running game. And perhaps the middle of OL can heal up some of their wounds.

I think it is a lot more funny watching this team than any of the previous 7 years. And they always have a chance to win. Team is good enough to play with any team now, just need that consistency. I think the team is still +1 in turnovers, which is way different from previous years where we were way - on turnovers.

I don't know what happened this last game with guys lining up offsides and committing late hit penalties, these were not what our team usually does.

I think we'll go 10-6 and that will likely get us into the playoffs, but I'd be quite satisfied with 10-6 anyways.

We're 7th right now, behind the Chargers who are 5-3. We are 5-4

This is their remaining schedule.

Eagles
@ Broncos
Chiefs
@ Browns
@ Cowboys
Bengals
@ Titans
Redskins

Can they go 4-4? I think they can lose to the Eagles, Broncos, Cowboys, and Bengals but really, those four are games that can easily go SD's way.

We HAVE to beat the teams we can. Beating Indy this past week would have been huge. We could have ****************in' been 6-3 going into the bye. Damn. Can we beat Indy at home?

We can, but no more stupid inexcusable turnovers!!!

I think the better question would be... Can we beat the Titans at home? They look like they have their swagger back and they will be looking forward for the Monday Night spotlight. I have a really bad feeling about that game.