Now in the playoffs for the first time, Houston hopes its highly rated defense can lead the team to a victory Saturday against the Bengals, the team Joseph played for before joining the Texans.

“It doesn’t get any better than this,” Joseph said about helping Houston to its first postseason game against his former team.

He has communicated with 20 to 25 of his former teammates this week and is proud of what the Bengals have done this season. But he certainly won’t feel torn Saturday.

“I’m a Texan now,” he said.

Phillips has had a difficult few weeks after having kidney and gall bladder surgery Dec. 15. He missed two games, but rejoined the team last week and coached from the press box Sunday.

He isn’t feeling great — he has a chair to sit in for parts of practice — but knew it was important to be with the team during this critical time.

“It’s taken a lot out of me but I’m working my back, doing what the doctors say, ready to keep building up,” Phillips, who wasn’t available to the media Wednesday, said recently.

Coach Gary Kubiak insisted the defense wasn’t any different with Phillips away, but acknowledged Wednesday that his return has given the unit a boost.

“I know from a confidence standpoint for everybody it’s nice to have him back in the locker room last weekend and have his presence throughout the course of the week, so that’s been a good thing,” Kubiak said. “We’ve got to make sure Wade gets good and healthy and everything goes OK.”

Linebacker Brian Cushing, who leads the team with 114 tackles, said Phillips’ importance to the team can’t be overstated.

“He’s been huge,” Cushing said. “For what he’s done in turning this defense around has been unbelievable. So much credit goes to him, from scheme, to coaches he’s brought to just the personality of the team.”

Joseph has helped Houston’s secondary go from allowing a league-worst 267.5 yards to just 189.7 this season — the third fewest in the NFL.

“To come in and be embraced by the guys and make such an impact to be counted and looked upon as a leader here has been a tremendous experience for me altogether,” Joseph said.

Houston has thrived in Phillips’ 3-4 defense even without 2006 top overall pick Mario Williams. The former defensive end was expected to star at outside linebacker in the new scheme, but had a season-ending injury during the fifth game.

That left the Texans shuffling people around. They moved the other starting outside linebacker Connor Barwin to Williams’ spot and rookie Brooks Reed took Barwin’s slot.

Reed filled the position ably and Barwin flourished this season, piling up a team-leading 11 1/2 sacks.

Barwin, another converted defensive end, said Phillips is quiet and stoic, but has a unique way of motivating players.

“Wade comes in with some gems,” Barwin said. “They might be short and quick but he’s wise.”

Phillips, who has more postseason coaching experience than any member of the staff with 26 games, encouraged the team to focus this week in practice with one of his “gems” of which Barwin is so fond.

“He walks out and says real mellow like he does: ‘Every single play is the playoffs now,’” Barwin said of Phillips. “So we knew every single play we do in practice is so important just because we’re in the playoffs now.”

DeMeco Ryans also credits Phillips for what has happened this year. Of course, the linebacker has helped out in the change this season, starting each game in 2011 after missing 10 games last year with an Achilles injury.

“The biggest key is that from the first day all the guys just bought into Wade’s system and how we were going to do things,” Ryans said. “Everyone in our room just wanted to excel and everyone wanted to be great in our defensive room.”

Ryans knew around the midway point of the season that this group could be special. Kubiak saw it a few weeks sooner, when the defense stopped Pittsburgh and Ben Roethlisberger four times in the fourth quarter of a 17-10 win.

“That was special against a great quarterback in Ben,” Kubiak said. “So you could see the confidence starting to grow right there and they’ve been very consistent all year long. As a matter of fact they’ve been darn good and hopefully they will continue to be, because we will need to play great defense to continue to move on.”

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

HOUSTON –

The setbacks finally seemed to catch up to the Houston Texans in Cincinnati last week.

It had all been going remarkably well — while one key player after another went down with a major injury, Houston somehow continued to win.

At last, the Texans had run into a team good enough to beat them, and the Bengals had them down 16-3 at halftime, and 19-13 with just over two minutes left.

But not even that was too much for depleted Houston to overcome.

Rookie quarterback T.J. Yates, a fifth-round pick, calmly guided the Texans on an 80-yard touchdown drive that ended up lifting the young franchise to its first AFC South title and first playoff berth.

Houston (10-3) has won seven in a row going into Sunday’s game against Carolina (4-9), and with the franchise’s first postseason berth secured, the expansion team with the mostly dismal history is taking aim at the Super Bowl.

And the way this season is unfolding, who’s to say the Texans can’t get there?

“The division was one of our goals, but not our main goal,” running back Arian Foster said, “and there’s a lot more at stake out there for us to go grab. It’s an opportunity that doesn’t come along a lot in the NFL, so you have to take advantage of it, and that’s what we’re working towards doing.”

Of course, the Texans are dealing with more obstacles this week.

Star receiver Andre Johnson is likely to sit out for the second straight week with a strained left hamstring, and defensive coordinator Wade Phillips is taking a medical leave following kidney surgery. Phillips expects to miss a week to 10 days, and linebackers coach Reggie Herring will run the league’s top-ranked defense.

Phillips has orchestrated a dramatic turnaround, transforming a defense that ranked 30th last season (377 yards per game) to No. 1 this year (275 yard per game). The 102-yard improvement would be the best in NFL history, and coach Gary Kubiak expects nothing to change in Phillips’ absence.

“Our guys, they’ve showed such maturity all year long, through adversity and any issues,” Kubiak said. “They understand the situation, and also want Wade to be sitting there watching them play Sunday and make him proud.

“I watch guys continue to find a little bit more in themselves, week in and week out,” he said. “That’s what our team is all about.”

The Texans have held their last seven opponents below 20 points, but doing that against rookie quarterback Cam Newton this week will be a major task.

With Newton at the helm, the Panthers have made nearly as drastic a reversal on offense as Houston has on defense. Carolina ranks fifth in total offense (399 yards per game) after ranking last in 2010 (258.4 yards per game).

“It does start with the quarterback,” first-year coach Ron Rivera said. “Quite frankly, that position has really been solidified with Cam, as he’s developing and learning the system.”

Newton needs 167 yards passing to top Peyton Manning’s rookie record, set in 1998 (3,739 yards). The top overall pick in last year’s draft, Newton already set a rookie mark with 432 yards passing in a 30-23 loss to Green Bay in Week 2, and his 13 rushing touchdowns are a single-season record for a quarterback.

“The young man’s everything we hoped he would be,” Rivera said.

The hardest part for Kubiak this week may have been trying to simulate Carolina’s offense in practice. Not only do the Panthers run what Kubiak calls an “unconventional” offense, the Texans have no one who can adequately mimic what Newton does.

“I said, ‘Hey guys, I’d love to tell you we can give you a good look in practice of what you’re going to face this week, but we can’t,’” Kubiak said. “We’re going to do our best. You’ve got to respect what he is, as an athlete and what he can do to you. It’s a different challenge because of what they do and all his ability.”

On top of that, Newton gets to work with one of the league’s top receivers.

Steve Smith leads the NFC and ranks second overall in yards receiving (1,217) and became the 35th player to reach 10,000 career yards receiving in last week’s loss to Atlanta. He needs 10 catches to become Carolina’s career leader, passing Muhsin Muhammad (696).

Smith should match up with top Houston cornerback Johnathan Joseph, who has four interceptions. Joseph remembers three previous encounters with Smith during his five-year stint in Cincinnati.

“He hasn’t changed anything,” Joseph said. “He’s just a guy that goes up and competes on each and every play. In this league, that’s all you can ask for from the guy you’re opposing, a guy that’s going to compete, whether it’s a jump ball or a hitch.

“He can take it 80 or 90 yards, that’s just what he’s about, competing from the beginning to the end of a ballgame.”

HOUSTON – The setbacks finally seemed to catch up to the Houston Texans in Cincinnati last week.

It had all been going remarkably well — while one key player after another went down with a major injury, Houston somehow continued to win.

At last, the Texans had run into a team good enough to beat them, and the Bengals had them down 16-3 at halftime, and 19-13 with just over two minutes left.

But not even that was too much for depleted Houston to overcome.

Rookie quarterback T.J. Yates, a fifth-round pick, calmly guided the Texans on an 80-yard touchdown drive that ended up lifting the young franchise to its first AFC South title and first playoff berth.

Houston (10-3) has won seven in a row going into Sunday’s game against Carolina (4-9), and with the franchise’s first post-season berth secured, the expansion team with the mostly dismal history is taking aim at the Super Bowl.

And the way this season is unfolding, who’s to say the Texans can’t get there?

“The division was one of our goals, but not our main goal,” running back Arian Foster said, “and there’s a lot more at stake out there for us to go grab. It’s an opportunity that doesn’t come along a lot in the NFL, so you have to take advantage of it, and that’s what we’re working towards doing.”

Of course, the Texans are dealing with more obstacles this week.

Star receiver Andre Johnson is likely to sit out for the second straight week with a strained left hamstring, and defensive co-ordinator Wade Phillips is taking a medical leave following kidney surgery. Phillips expects to miss a week to 10 days, and linebackers coach Reggie Herring will run the league’s top-ranked defence.

Phillips has orchestrated a dramatic turnaround, transforming a defence that ranked 30th last season (377 yards per game) to No. 1 this year (275 yard per game). The 102-yard improvement would be the best in NFL history, and coach Gary Kubiak expects nothing to change in Phillips’ absence.

“Our guys, they’ve showed such maturity all year long, through adversity and any issues,” Kubiak said. “They understand the situation, and also want Wade to be sitting there watching them play Sunday and make him proud.

“I watch guys continue to find a little bit more in themselves, week in and week out,” he said. “That’s what our team is all about.”

The Texans have held their last seven opponents below 20 points, but doing that against rookie quarterback Cam Newton this week will be a major task.

With Newton at the helm, the Panthers have made nearly as drastic a reversal on offence as Houston has on defence. Carolina ranks fifth in total offence (399 yards per game) after ranking last in 2010 (258.4 yards per game).

“It does start with the quarterback,” first-year coach Ron Rivera said. “Quite frankly, that position has really been solidified with Cam, as he’s developing and learning the system.”

Newton needs 167 yards passing to top Peyton Manning’s rookie record, set in 1998 (3,739 yards). The top overall pick in last year’s draft, Newton already set a rookie mark with 432 yards passing in a 30-23 loss to Green Bay in Week 2, and his 13 rushing touchdowns are a single-season record for a quarterback.

“The young man’s everything we hoped he would be,” Rivera said.

The hardest part for Kubiak this week may have been trying to simulate Carolina’s offence in practice. Not only do the Panthers run what Kubiak calls an “unconventional” offence, the Texans have no one who can adequately mimic what Newton does.

“I said, ‘Hey guys, I’d love to tell you we can give you a good look in practice of what you’re going to face this week, but we can’t,’” Kubiak said. “We’re going to do our best. You’ve got to respect what he is, as an athlete and what he can do to you. It’s a different challenge because of what they do and all his ability.”

On top of that, Newton gets to work with one of the league’s top receivers.

Steve Smith leads the NFC and ranks second overall in yards receiving (1,217) and became the 35th player to reach 10,000 career yards receiving in last week’s loss to Atlanta. He needs 10 catches to become Carolina’s career leader, passing Muhsin Muhammad (696).

Smith should match up with top Houston cornerback Johnathan Joseph, who has four interceptions. Joseph remembers three previous encounters with Smith during his five-year stint in Cincinnati.

“He hasn’t changed anything,” Joseph said. “He’s just a guy that goes up and competes on each and every play. In this league, that’s all you can ask for from the guy you’re opposing, a guy that’s going to compete, whether it’s a jump ball or a hitch.

“He can take it 80 or 90 yards, that’s just what he’s about, competing from the beginning to the end of a ballgame.”

The city is celebrating its first NFL division title since the Oilers won the AFC Central in 1993. The Texans (10-3), born as an expansion team in 2002, have won a franchise-record seven straight heading into Sunday’s game against Carolina (4-9).

The families of the players and coaches joined the crowd at Reliant Stadium. Outside linebacker Mario Williams, out for the season with a torn chest muscle, was one of the first familiar faces coach Gary Kubiak spotted when he got off the team bus.

“That’s what you work for,” Kubiak said Monday. “That’s why we’ve been doing what we’ve been doing, to get to that point where everybody could experience that.”

Kubiak took some extra personal satisfaction in the turnout, because he grew up only a few miles from the Texans’ home base.

“It’s special to see that excitement,” he said. “I know the hard work that’s been put in, and the job that the coaches and players in this organization have done, to walk around our building (Monday) and see how proud everybody that works here is, it was a great day.”

But Kubiak also stressed to his team that there’s still work to be done. The Texans are one of four 10-3 teams in the AFC, and Kubiak talked to some of the veterans on the plane ride back from Cincinnati about maintaining the team’s focus.

“We don’t have many guys on our team that have been in playoff games,” Kubiak said. “You probably could count on 10 fingers. I don’t know how many we have, but the few that we do have need to keep our guys focused on what it’s all about.”

Houston has 14 players with postseason experience, including recently signed backup quarterbacks Jake Delhomme and Jeff Garcia.

Kubiak is hoping star receiver Andre Johnson returns after missing Sunday’s game in Cincinnati with a “mild” left hamstring strain. Johnson was just coming back after sitting out six games with an injury to his right hamstring that required surgery.

Kubiak says he’ll stay cautious with his star receiver, though he wants to get Johnson back in action as soon as possible.

“If I could, I’d have Andre back this next week,” Kubiak said. “He needs to play, he needs to get back in the flow of things before we do get to January. But we’ve got to be smart here. He did nothing last week, a little running in the pool. We’ll increase that this week. Where we’ll be, I don’t know.”

Houston cut veteran Derrick Mason on Monday, and Kubiak says Jeff Maehl or Trindon Holliday will move up on the depth chart. The 37-year-old Mason signed after Johnson’s initial hamstring injury, and caught only six passes in seven games.

The Texans also continued their remarkably bad run of serious injuries in Cincinnati. Right guard Mike Brisiel had surgery on Monday to repair his broken right leg, and Kubiak says he’ll miss three to four weeks.

Williams and quarterbacks Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart were among the long list of players already lost to season-ending injuries. So far, as long as Yates stays healthy, the Texans seem to be OK.

The fifth-round pick completed 26 of 44 for 300 yards, and engineered the winning 80-yard drive at the end. He threw an interception and was sacked five times.

“Probably had a few balls he could have got rid of that he hung on to too long,” Kubiak said, “but I did like the way he responded throughout the course of the game, the way he handled us on the road.

“We didn’t have huddle problems, all those things you worry about with a young quarterback,” Kubiak said. “How quick he grows up and how he progresses will have a lot to do with how far we go, so I think he took another step this week, though.”

Yates was back at work Monday, studying a replay of the game with Schaub, Delhomme and Garcia.

“It’s just going to continue to come back to decision-making, keeping the team in the right spot,” Kubiak said. “He was in there first thing this morning, him and Matt (Schaub) and my two vets watching the film and trying to get better, so that’s the most important thing.”

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

HOUSTON (AP) — The injury-riddled Houston Texans added to their quarterback depth Tuesday, reaching a deal with Jake Delhomme.

Delhomme worked out with the Texans on Tuesday, along with another retired quarterback, Jeff Garcia. The 36-year-old Delhomme will back up rookie T.J. Yates, a fifth-round pick slated to start Sunday’s game against Atlanta.

Rick Smith, Delhomme’s agent, said in a phone interview Tuesday that his client has been staying in shape and raising racehorses in Louisiana since he was cut by Cleveland in July.

“He relishes that role, and he’s looking forward to contributing to the team,” Smith said in a phone interview. “He keeps himself in shape, he’s been throwing a bunch.”

The Texans are dangerously thin at the position in the wake of season-ending injuries to Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart.

Houston signed Kellen Clemens last week after learning that Schaub will need season-ending surgery on his right foot. Leinart broke his left collarbone in Sunday’s 20-13 win over Jacksonville.

Yates replaced Leinart late in the first half, and went 8 for 15 for 70 yards in his first NFL action. Coach Gary Kubiak confirmed Monday that Leinart was out for the year and said Yates would start against the Falcons.

Smith didn’t know if Delhomme would be No. 2 or No. 3 on the depth chart this week. But Smith said Delhomme would only consider playing for a handful of teams if he ever came back, and Houston was one of them.

“Gary runs a very quarterback-friendly system,” said Smith, who also represents former Texans quarterback Sage Rosenfels. “It’s a great offensive system, and quarterbacks, they love it.”

Delhomme guided Carolina to the Super Bowl after the 2003 season – played at Reliant Stadium. He completed 16 of 33 passes for 323 yards and three touchdowns in the Panthers’ 32-29 loss to Tom Brady and New England.

Houston plays the Panthers at Reliant on Dec. 18.

Cleveland signed Delhomme to a two-year contract in March 2010, but he sprained his right ankle in the opener, lost his starting job to rookie Colt McCoy and played in only five games. He threw only two touchdown passes with seven interceptions that season.

But the Texans could hardly afford to be picky.

With Yates thrust into a starting role, Houston will have to lean on its top-ranked defense and No. 3 rushing attack to navigate through the final five games and earn the franchise’s first playoff berth.

Despite losing a key player seemingly every week, the Texans are having their best season. They’ve won five in a row and hold a two-game lead over Tennessee in the AFC South.

“They’ve got a lot of people telling them they can’t do something,” Kubiak said of his team Monday. “Believe me, they believe they can. It’s been about the team all year long and it will continue to be that way. It’s just another obstacle. We’ll rally and get ready to go this week.”

The Texans rank second in pass defense (175.8 yards per game) and fourth against the run (92.5 yards per game). They have 35 sacks, second in the league to Baltimore, and they’re plus-11 in turnover ratio.

Arian Foster and Ben Tate were bottled up against Jacksonville, but both still rank among the league’s top 16 rushers.

HOUSTON – The injury-riddled Houston Texans added to their quarterback depth Tuesday, reaching a deal with Jake Delhomme.

Delhomme worked out with the Texans on Tuesday, along with another retired quarterback, former CFLer Jeff Garcia. The 36-year-old Delhomme will back up rookie T.J. Yates, a fifth-round pick slated to start Sunday’s game against Atlanta.

Rick Smith, Delhomme’s agent, said in a phone interview Tuesday that his client has been staying in shape and raising racehorses in Louisiana since he was cut by Cleveland in July.

“He relishes that role, and he’s looking forward to contributing to the team,” Smith said in a phone interview. “He keeps himself in shape, he’s been throwing a bunch.”

The Texans are dangerously thin at the position in the wake of season-ending injuries to Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart.

Houston signed Kellen Clemens last week after learning that Schaub will need season-ending surgery on his right foot. Leinart broke his left collarbone in Sunday’s 20-13 win over Jacksonville.

Yates replaced Leinart late in the first half, and went 8-for-15 for 70 yards in his first NFL action. Coach Gary Kubiak confirmed Monday that Leinart was out for the year and said Yates would start against the Falcons.

Smith didn’t know if Delhomme would be No. 2 or No. 3 on the depth chart this week. But Smith said Delhomme would only consider playing for a handful of teams if he ever came back, and Houston was one of them.

“Gary runs a very quarterback-friendly system,” said Smith, who also represents former Texans quarterback Sage Rosenfels. “It’s a great offensive system, and quarterbacks, they love it.”

Delhomme guided Carolina to the Super Bowl after the 2003 season — played at Reliant Stadium. He completed 16-of-33 passes for 323 yards and three touchdowns in the Panthers’ 32-29 loss to Tom Brady and New England.

Houston plays the Panthers at Reliant on Dec. 18.

Cleveland signed Delhomme to a two-year contract in March 2010, but he sprained his right ankle in the opener, lost his starting job to rookie Colt McCoy and played in only five games. He threw only two touchdown passes with seven interceptions that season.

But the Texans could hardly afford to be picky.

With Yates thrust into a starting role, Houston will have to lean on its top-ranked defence and No. 3 rushing attack to navigate through the final five games and earn the franchise’s first playoff berth.

Despite losing a key player seemingly every week, the Texans are having their best season. They’ve won five in a row and hold a two-game lead over Tennessee in the AFC South.

“They’ve got a lot of people telling them they can’t do something,” Kubiak said of his team Monday. “Believe me, they believe they can. It’s been about the team all year long and it will continue to be that way. It’s just another obstacle. We’ll rally and get ready to go this week.”

The Texans rank second in pass defence (175.8 yards per game) and fourth against the run (92.5 yards per game). They have 35 sacks, second in the league to Baltimore, and they’re plus-11 in turnover ratio.

Arian Foster and Ben Tate were bottled up against Jacksonville, but both still rank among the league’s top 16 rushers.

Rick Smith, Delhomme’s agent, said in a phone interview Tuesday that his client has been staying in shape and raising racehorses in Louisiana since he was cut by Cleveland in July.

“He relishes that role, and he’s looking forward to contributing to the team,” Smith said in a phone interview. “He keeps himself in shape, he’s been throwing a bunch.”

The Texans are dangerously thin at the position in the wake of season-ending injuries to Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart.

Houston signed Kellen Clemens last week after learning that Schaub will need season-ending surgery on his right foot. Leinart broke his left collarbone in Sunday’s 20-13 win over Jacksonville.

Yates replaced Leinart late in the first half, and went 8 for 15 for 70 yards in his first NFL action. Coach Gary Kubiak confirmed Monday that Leinart was out for the year and said Yates would start against the Falcons.

Smith didn’t know if Delhomme would be No. 2 or No. 3 on the depth chart this week. But Smith said Delhomme would only consider playing for a handful of teams if he ever came back, and Houston was one of them.

“Gary runs a very quarterback-friendly system,” said Smith, who also represents former Texans quarterback Sage Rosenfels. “It’s a great offensive system, and quarterbacks, they love it.”

Delhomme guided Carolina to the Super Bowl after the 2003 season — played at Reliant Stadium. He completed 16 of 33 passes for 323 yards and three touchdowns in the Panthers’ 32-29 loss to Tom Brady and New England.

Houston plays the Panthers at Reliant on Dec. 18.

Cleveland signed Delhomme to a two-year contract in March 2010, but he sprained his right ankle in the opener, lost his starting job to rookie Colt McCoy and played in only five games. He threw only two touchdown passes with seven interceptions that season.

But the Texans could hardly afford to be picky.

With Yates thrust into a starting role, Houston will have to lean on its top-ranked defense and No. 3 rushing attack to navigate through the final five games and earn the franchise’s first playoff berth.

Despite losing a key player seemingly every week, the Texans are having their best season. They’ve won five in a row and hold a two-game lead over Tennessee in the AFC South.

“They’ve got a lot of people telling them they can’t do something,” Kubiak said of his team Monday. “Believe me, they believe they can. It’s been about the team all year long and it will continue to be that way. It’s just another obstacle. We’ll rally and get ready to go this week.”

The Texans rank second in pass defense (175.8 yards per game) and fourth against the run (92.5 yards per game). They have 35 sacks, second in the league to Baltimore, and they’re plus-11 in turnover ratio.

Arian Foster and Ben Tate were bottled up against Jacksonville, but both still rank among the league’s top 16 rushers.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The Canadian Press – ONLINE EDITION

By: Chris Duncan, The Associated Press

29/11/2011 5:42 PM
| Comments: 0

HOUSTON – The injury-riddled Houston Texans added to their quarterback depth Tuesday, reaching a deal with Jake Delhomme.

Delhomme worked out with the Texans on Tuesday, along with another retired quarterback, former CFLer Jeff Garcia. The 36-year-old Delhomme will back up rookie T.J. Yates, a fifth-round pick slated to start Sunday’s game against Atlanta.

Rick Smith, Delhomme’s agent, said in a phone interview Tuesday that his client has been staying in shape and raising racehorses in Louisiana since he was cut by Cleveland in July.

“He relishes that role, and he’s looking forward to contributing to the team,” Smith said in a phone interview. “He keeps himself in shape, he’s been throwing a bunch.”

The Texans are dangerously thin at the position in the wake of season-ending injuries to Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart.

Houston signed Kellen Clemens last week after learning that Schaub will need season-ending surgery on his right foot. Leinart broke his left collarbone in Sunday’s 20-13 win over Jacksonville.

Yates replaced Leinart late in the first half, and went 8-for-15 for 70 yards in his first NFL action. Coach Gary Kubiak confirmed Monday that Leinart was out for the year and said Yates would start against the Falcons.

Smith didn’t know if Delhomme would be No. 2 or No. 3 on the depth chart this week. But Smith said Delhomme would only consider playing for a handful of teams if he ever came back, and Houston was one of them.

“Gary runs a very quarterback-friendly system,” said Smith, who also represents former Texans quarterback Sage Rosenfels. “It’s a great offensive system, and quarterbacks, they love it.”

Delhomme guided Carolina to the Super Bowl after the 2003 season — played at Reliant Stadium. He completed 16-of-33 passes for 323 yards and three touchdowns in the Panthers’ 32-29 loss to Tom Brady and New England.

Houston plays the Panthers at Reliant on Dec. 18.

Cleveland signed Delhomme to a two-year contract in March 2010, but he sprained his right ankle in the opener, lost his starting job to rookie Colt McCoy and played in only five games. He threw only two touchdown passes with seven interceptions that season.

But the Texans could hardly afford to be picky.

With Yates thrust into a starting role, Houston will have to lean on its top-ranked defence and No. 3 rushing attack to navigate through the final five games and earn the franchise’s first playoff berth.

Despite losing a key player seemingly every week, the Texans are having their best season. They’ve won five in a row and hold a two-game lead over Tennessee in the AFC South.

“They’ve got a lot of people telling them they can’t do something,” Kubiak said of his team Monday. “Believe me, they believe they can. It’s been about the team all year long and it will continue to be that way. It’s just another obstacle. We’ll rally and get ready to go this week.”

The Texans rank second in pass defence (175.8 yards per game) and fourth against the run (92.5 yards per game). They have 35 sacks, second in the league to Baltimore, and they’re plus-11 in turnover ratio.

Arian Foster and Ben Tate were bottled up against Jacksonville, but both still rank among the league’s top 16 rushers.

Written by

The Sports Network

“I think last week was an aberration,” Browns linebacker Scott Fujita said. “It’s about coming back and just getting back to what we do.”

Trouble is, before the Texans gashed the Browns with their intricate zone-blocking scheme, the San Francisco 49ers amassed 174 yards rushing the previous week and Cleveland’s defense is allowing 144 yards per game. Only Indianapolis and St. Louis are worse.

It’s enough to keep any defensive coordinator up at night, and Dick Jauron said this week he hasn’t been happy with Cleveland’s run defense most of this season.

“We’re giving up too much in the run game,” said Jauron, a 26-year NFL assistant in his first season with Cleveland. “It’s not total yards. It’s never total yards, its yards per carry. That’s the deal. Last week it got out of hand, the yards per carry was just too big.

“I’m not concerned with total yardage, but the yards per carry, when that gets consistently out of whack then you got issues.”

The Texans averaged 6.5 yards per carry, and the Browns are allowing 4.4 yards per attempt this season. Jauron would like it to be a lot lower.

“I’d like to see it at zero,” he joked. “Up in the 3’s, 3.7-3.8, in that area you’re OK.”

The Browns were not OK last week. To offset Houston’s blocking scheme, Jauron moved his defensive linemen back off the line of scrimmage, figuring it would give them more time to analyze blocks and allow Cleveland’s linebackers to get to the ball carrier.

While the theory may have sounded good during meetings and even worked in practice, it failed miserably against the Texans, who drove over the Browns at will.

“It wasn’t the best idea because it didn’t work out,” Jauron said. “They did a really nice job and we didn’t. They’re a really good team that played well and we didn’t play particularly well on that day.”

Jackson has rushed for over 100 yards in the past two games, and the Browns are bracing themselves for a heaping helping of the Rams star, who picks up yards with a violent running style.

“It’s another one of those guys that are real difficult to prepare for,” Fujita said. “I played him quite a few times and if you let him get going, he’s one of the best backs in the league. He’s different than some of the backs we’ve faced the last couple weeks. He’s not like the Frank Gore-type who can kind of hide, slip between gaps and then burst.

“This is a guy who’s like a train, who wants to get rolling. If you let him get a full head of steam, he’s tough to bring down.”

Jackson has rushed for 579 yards, ranking him 12th in the league. He’s averaging 5.1 yards per attempt, a number the Browns can’t afford to let him sniff.

Another of Cleveland’s problems last week was poor tackling. It was bad enough that Houston’s Arian Foster and Ben Tate ran through gaping holes, but when the linebackers and defensive backs had a chance to bring them down, they didn’t — or couldn’t.

Foster ran for 124 yards and Tate had 115 as the Browns allowed two 100-yard rushers in the same game for the first time since 1956.

“That left a bad taste,” said safety Usama Young, who will start this week in place of injured T.J. Ward. “You never want to give up that many yards on the ground or in the air. We want to bounce back this week. We worked hard and went over the corrections we needed to and now we’ve got to execute.”

Notes: Injured RB Peyton Hillis said his left hamstring was improving. Hillis will miss his fourth straight game since getting hurt on Oct. 16 at Oakland. Browns coach Pat Shurmur said earlier this week there were no plans to put Hillis on injured reserve. … Browns K Phil Dawson practiced Friday after missing one day with a migraine. Dawson was able to do all his kicks and said he was feeling better. .. Starting WR Mohamed Massaquoi will not play this week as he’s still bothered by symptoms from a concussion. Massaquoi attended meetings and told Shurmur he was feeling better.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.