“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.

The Browns have the NFL’s top-ranked passing defense. That’s because everyone runs on them.

Last week, the Houston Texans steamrolled the Browns for 261 yards rushing, a punishing performance that exposed some gaping holes in Cleveland’s defense — gulfs and gaps the Browns spent the week trying to plug in preparation for Sunday’s game against the St. Louis Rams and their powerful back, Steven Jackson.

“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.

Texans nose tackle Shaun Cody is known around the locker room for his sense of humor. He’s the star of comical video skits on the team’s website, and he grabbed a microphone and serenaded Arian Foster as he was being interviewed last week.

Cody was joking again after Sunday’s 30-12 win over Cleveland when he said, “Super Bowl, here we come.” The way Houston is playing, that may not be too much of a stretch.

The first-place Texans (6-3) have won three in a row to move three games over .500 for the first time heading into Sunday’s game at Tampa Bay (4-4). And with each victory, there seems to be more reasons to believe Houston will continue to roll.

Houston has held its last three opponents under 200 yards and now leads the league in total defense (274 per game). More remarkably, the Texans rank second against the pass (182.6 yards per game) after finishing last in 2010.

The players and coach Gary Kubiak credit Wade Phillips for the defensive resurgence. The new coordinator re-energized the unit during a transition to a 3-4 alignment, and Kubiak found out Monday that his team now boasts the league’s top defense.

“We’ve come a long way,” Kubiak said. “Hopefully, there’s a lot more good things to come.”

The offense, meanwhile, has relied on Foster and Ben Tate in recent weeks to overcome the absence of star receiver Andre Johnson, who’s missed five games with a right hamstring injury. Foster and Tate both rushed for over 100 yards in Sunday’s 30-12 rout of Cleveland, the second time in three weeks the duo has done that in the same game, another “first” for the franchise this season.

The Texans rank second in rushing (155 yards per game), and are the only team with two backs inside the league’s top 10. Foster had 19 carries for 124 yards and Tate had 12 rushes for 115 in Sunday’s win.

And with another solid effort in the kicking game against the Browns, Kubiak is starting to see the versatility he envisioned when he took over the team in 2006.

“I tell you guys all the time, (the goal) is hopefully get a team that’s good enough when you show up on Sunday that you can win three different ways,” Kubiak said. “Right now, I think we’re heading very much towards that. I think we feel like we can play defense with anybody in the league and we feel like we can move the ball with anybody in the league and to me, (special teams coordinator) Joe (Marciano) has done a great job with our special teams.”

The Texans also have enough depth now to withstand key injuries, and they’ll be short-handed again on Sunday.

Sacks leader Mario Williams was lost for the season five games ago and safety Danieal Manning is out indefinitely with a broken left leg. Defensive end Antonio Smith hurt his right shoulder against Cleveland, and Kubiak said he may miss practice time this week.

Johnson worked out Monday, and Kubiak wasn’t sure if the star receiver would return to practice on Wednesday. The Texans have a bye week after the trip to Tampa Bay, so Kubiak may wait and give Johnson an extra full week to heal.

“We’re going to take it a day at a time,” Kubiak said, “but we’re back on the track to Andre getting back on the field here very, very quickly. Hopefully that’s this week, but I don’t know. We’ll see.”

The biggest question now for the Texans may be simply how they handle winning. Houston is still seeking its first playoff berth and its fans have grown accustomed to stunning collapses late in games and in seasons.

But Kubiak thinks the past disappointments will keep the team in the right mindset entering the season’s stretch run.

“We’ve got enough guys around here that have been through enough tough times to know how hard they’ve worked for this opportunity that they’re fixing to go into here over the course of the next seven weeks,” Kubiak said. “And we’ve got a lot of coaches here who have been in a lot of big games and been on a lot of good football teams. We’ll just keep them focused.

“There’s a long way to go. There’s seven weeks to go, but when you start breaking it down by days, there’s not many days left. We just got to make sure we make each day a good one.”

Read More: Andre Johnson (WR – HOU), Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans, Cleveland Browns at Houston Texans, Nov 6, 2011 12:00 PM CST

Houston Texans head coach Gary Kubiak would not rule out his star wide receiver, Andre Johnson, for Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns, but Johnson’s availability doesn’t look promising through Thursday. 

Kubiak suggested that Johnson was sore after an intense workout earlier in the week, and that’s why he has missed two straight days of practice this week, but intense workouts are a little different than football action — Johnson hasn’t played since he was injured over a month ago on October 2. Johnson is expected to practice on Friday, though, and will probably be a game-time decision.

The 5-3 Texans have an extensive injury list, but most of them were full participants on Thursday. Here is their full injury report through Thursday:

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HOUSTON (AP)—Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub’s(notes) bruised chest won’t
keep him out this week, though it’s likely Andre Johnson(notes) will miss his third
straight game since minor surgery on his right hamstring.

The Texans, who have already lost linebacker Mario Williams(notes) for the year,
could also be without fullback James Casey(notes) for the second game in a row because
of a pectoral injury.

That’s bad news for a team that has lost two straight heading into a key AFC
South game on Sunday against the division-leading Tennessee Titans.

Schaub said being banged up is just part of life in the NFL and that the
team will have to work through its problems to get ready for the Titans. Schaub
was limited in practice on Wednesday, with backup Matt Leinart(notes) taking some of
the repetitions. The Texans plan to use Leinart a lot in practice as the season
goes on to give Schaub some rest.

“He’s just sore,” coach Gary Kubiak said of Schaub. “He’s beat up, but he
did practice … Matt is pushing through and we just need to get him through a
week where he’s not getting beat up very much.”

Kubiak said Johnson has been making progress and hasn’t had any setbacks. He
has been running and catching passes, but has yet to practice with the team.
Kubiak said he could return to practice before the end of the week and wouldn’t
rule him out for Sunday yet.

“Well, first off, I’m not going to say no. I’m not going to say it,” he
said when asked if there was a chance Johnson would play. “He’s got to reach
the practice field before he plays in a game and he’s not done that yet.
Everything is going exactly the way we thought it would go.”

With Johnson’s status uncertain, the Texans are looking for more from recent
acquisition Derrick Mason(notes), who joined the team last Thursday in a trade with the
New York Jets and caught three passes for 27 yards in a 29-14 loss to Baltimore
on Sunday.

Schaub thinks Mason can play a bigger role in the offense against the Titans
with a full week of practice under his belt.

“He can really help us with his skill set,” Schaub said. “So to get him
more preparation and get more reps with him will help us going forward.”

Mason said he’s spent a lot of time in the film room and that he’s trying to
get caught up as quickly as possible.

“I’m picking up on things fairly quickly,” Mason said. “The rest of the
guys are helping me as much as they can. I feel like this week I can play a
little bit faster because some more things have been thrown my way and I feel
comfortable with them.”

Kubiak said playing without Johnson and Casey has been difficult, but that
players such as Mason and fullback Lawrence Vickers(notes) have to pick up the slack.

“All of a sudden, you lose Andre and then you lose (Casey) and his
versatility,” Kubiak said. “It’s been tough, but Lawrence has got to step in
and he’s got his strengths too as a player. Derrick has to step in offensively.
It’s been an adjustment period, but it’s something we have to handle as a group
and find a way to make it work.”

Kevin Walter(notes), who normally starts opposite Johnson, has 11 receptions for
133 yards and a touchdown in the two games combined since Johnson has been out.
He knows that he can do more, but said that filling the void can’t fall to just
one guy.

“We’re missing some big guys—Andre, Mario—and we’ve got to get past
that,” he said. “Obviously it does hurt us, but we need to step in and make
those plays. Not just one person but everyone needs to go in there. We’ve got to
pick it up as a whole group.”

Notes: The Texans placed S Dominique Barber(notes) on injured reserve with a foot
injury and signed rookie S Shiloh Keo(notes) from the practice squad to take his roster
spot. … The Cleveland Browns signed RB Chris Ogbonnaya(notes) to their active roster
from Houston’s practice squad and the Texans signed RB Javarris Williams(notes) and S
Torri Williams(notes) to their practice squad.

HOUSTON — Mario Williams had surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle on Friday, while the Houston Texans wrapped up preparations for Sunday’s game in Baltimore.

The franchise’s all-time sacks leader is out for the season after being injured in last week’s 25-20 loss to Oakland. Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips said the surgery “went well.” Rookie linebacker Brooks Reed will replace Williams against the Ravens.

Also, quarterback Matt Schaub practiced Friday after missing time earlier this week with a sore throwing shoulder. The Texans added Derrick Mason to boost the receiving corps without Andre Johnson, who’s out this week with a right hamstring injury.

Johnson gave no timetable for his return. He says he has “been getting better every day” since having minor surgery last week.

By Scott Schroeder

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Oct 14, 2011 – The Houston Texans and Baltimore Ravens looked like it would be a pretty evenly matched game just a couple of weeks ago, but fast forward to Sunday and one will see that the Texans will be missing two of their best players in Andre Johnson and Mario Williams. Knowing that, it would seem to make sense that the Week 6 NFL picks and predictions will probably favor the hosting Ravens.

First up on the stroll through this week’s NFL expert picks is SB Nation’s own Andrew Sharp. Sharp went 7-6 against the spread last week, but who really counts picks against the spread when you play to win the game.

Houston at Baltimore (-8.5) … Baltimore’s my early favorite to win the AFC, but the Texans are too good to be getting 8.5 points on the road. Right? It just… It’s really scary to bet on Kubiak-coached team.

The experts at CBS Sports were unanimous in selecting the Ravens to win outright, but Will Brinson and Dave Richard both chose the Texans when factoring in the spread. Over at ESPN, the Ravens were the unanimous pick as well and Sports Illustrated’s Peter King believes the Texans will lose, too.

With the injuries, it’s easy to see why the Ravens are the pick of the experts this week, but one never knows when Arian Foster, or his counterpart in Ray Rice, might make things interesting.

Read More: Andre Johnson (WR – HOU), Mario Williams (LB – HOU), Arian Foster (RB – HOU), Baltimore Ravens, Houston Texans, Houston Texans at Baltimore Ravens, Oct 16, 2011 4:05 PM EDT

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By David Coleman

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Oct 5, 2011 – Let’s check out the five most interesting fantasy plays from the Houston Texans this week…

Matt Schaub, QB: Is it possible that Schaub is underrated? No one talks about him being an elite quarterback, but he’s sure put up good numbers this season. Fantasy-wise, he’s got half as many points as Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady, but has only thrown three interceptions. The Texans could rely more on the run with Andre Johnson’s injury, but Schaub will still be there guiding the offense. 250 yards and a pair of touchdowns are pretty likely.

Andre Johnson, WR: You know about the hamstring injury, which should keep Dre out for the next two weeks. So, plan to keep him on your bench at least that long.

Owen Daniels, TE: Though numberFire is saying that Daniels should be the third-highest scoring tight end this week, Oakland is giving up the 29th most points to TEs this season. Daniels has been an increasingly big part of the Texans passing game and has shown no decrease in ability from his knee injury. The thing I’m worried about is he hasn’t had a huge game like he did pre-injury yet. That’s not to say he won’t, but until you see it…

James Casey, TE: I know, I know, Casey isn’t the best pick to start this week, but if the first four weeks are any indication, he could be a big part of the offense with Andre Johnson out.  The Texans figure out how to get him the ball in many creative ways, so all it will take is a few more targets for him to be a viable fantasy option at your flex position. 

Houston D/ST: For all the problems with Oakland’s defense, their offense has given teams plenty of problems. With Darren McFadden as the leading point-getter at running back, the Texans defense could face the best rushing attack of the season. Oakland is giving up the 29th-most points to fantasy defenses and according to numberFire, the Texan defense is projected for 6.7 points this week.

Read More: Tom Brady (QB – NEP), Aaron Rodgers (QB – GBP), Owen Daniels (TE – HOU), Andre Johnson (WR – HOU), Matt Schaub (QB – HOU), Houston Texans

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Carnell “Cadillac” Williams is the only running back to reach 100 yards rushing in his first three games. Tate will probably have a chance to match Williams on Sunday when Houston (2-0) plays at New Orleans (1-1), because 2010 NFL leading rusher Arian Foster is still limited by a left hamstring strain.

“It’s an awesome group to even just be mentioned with those guys, but it’s just the start to my career,” Tate said. “Honestly, I haven’t taken time to really think about it, but I would have to say it’s important. I guess it’s a big thing that it happened.”

Despite Tate’s fast start, Houston coach Gary Kubiak said Foster will regain his starting role when he’s fit enough to play. Foster took some snaps in Friday’s practice, and will be re-evaluated Saturday.

“It’s tough,” Foster said. “I think it’s more mental than it is anything because like I said before, it’s not something you can really push through. It’s not something that you can play with at 100 percent, so you just got to be patient with it. It’s just got to work that way.”

Tate can relate to Foster’s frustration. The former Auburn star was a second-round pick by the Texans in 2010, then broke his right ankle in Houston’s first preseason game and was placed on injured reserve.

And like Foster, Tate was hampered by a hamstring injury during training camp this year. Kubiak became concerned with how much practice time Tate was missing, but Tate has proven to be a quick learner.

“It’s fun to watch,” Kubiak said, “when you get a guy who’s talented, just watching them try to become a pro or as they become a pro, I guess is a good way to put it. He was out last year. He did study. He stayed in his book. He comes into camp this year, he misses a little time, he just kept working.”

Tate saw his first live action in more than a year in Houston’s second preseason game, rushing for 95 yards and a touchdown in a 27-14 win over New Orleans.

“He’s got good balance and vision,” Saints coach Sean Payton said. “Certainly, you wouldn’t have guessed that he hadn’t played, so he’s been exciting to watch, or follow, if you will. I think he certainly carries his pads well. He’s explosive. He’s got good vision and I think he’s someone that’s very elusive.”

Foster was inactive for the Texans’ season-opening win over Indianapolis, and when backup Derrick Ward left the game with a sprained right ankle, Tate made the most of his long-delayed opportunity, rushing 24 times for 116 yards and a touchdown. He ran for 103 yards in a 23-13 win in Miami last week, helping the Texans keep the clock moving late with 13 carries in the fourth quarter.

“I think that’s us telling how much confidence we have in him,” Kubiak said. “The way he was carrying that ball in the last 10 minutes of the game, there was no doubt who had control of what was going on. That player right there is telling you by how he’s playing to ‘Give it to me. I can get it handled,’ so hopefully that continues to grow.”

Tate expects to have some challenging blocking assignments on Sunday against the Saints’ blitz-heavy defense. But Tate downplays the difficulty of the transition from college, and says he’s confident that he can handle pro-level pass protection as well as he’s handled his rushes.

“The defenses are more complex,” Tate said. “They bring different blitzes, and you have to deal with more blitzes. Other than that, at the end of the day, it’s football. I wouldn’t say it’s hard to figure out. Everybody knows that protecting the quarterback is important.”

Eventually, Foster will get his job back, and Tate will be relegated to a reserve role once again. For now, Tate isn’t fazed by that.

“I can’t worry about what’s going on with Arian,” Tate said. “The only thing I can focus on is me.”

Notes: Kubiak was optimistic that WRs Jacoby Jones (bruised left knee) and Kevin Walter (bruised right shoulder) will be ready to play by Sunday, even though Jones has sat out team drills this week. … Seventh-round draft pick Derek Newton will move into backup tackle Rashad Butler’s spot on the depth chart. Butler was placed on injured reserve this week with an elbow injury.

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