Houston Texans 2009 Season: Expectant Mothers Should Not Ride.

Warning:  Before experiencing the Houston Texans' season you should be in good health, free from high blood pressure, heart, back, or neck problems, motion sickness, or any other condition that could be aggravated from this ride.

The 2009 season started with a dud for the Texans as they were thoroughly dominated by the Jets.

They followed up with a huge win in Tennessee.

In week three, they laid another egg and lost a heart-breaker against Jacksonville.

This week they bounced back with a dominating performance against the Raiders.

Hold on a second — I'm getting sick.

The question now is the same question we've been asking of this team for the last two years: are they ready to take that next step or will the roller-coaster continue?

The Texans have one of the elite passing attacks in the league.  Andre Johnson is arguably the best receiver in the NFL, Matt Schaub has turned into a reliable and dangerous quarterback, Owen Daniels and Kevin Walter are great route runners with reliable hands, and Andre Davis and Jacoby Jones can both stretch the field.

That is the only part of the team that can be described as consistent.

The running game has been boom or bust (mostly bust) and has already lost three fumbles.

The defensive woes have been well documented, but the unit has more personalities than Dr. Jekyll.  They've made some nice defensive stops, but also given up six touchdowns of 30-yards or more.

On special teams, Jacoby Jones showed his explosiveness on Sunday as he ran back a free kick following the safety 95-yards for a touchdown, and then showed why Texans fans should stock up on antacids by fumbling his next punt.

So, again, has this team figured it out, or are we in for another free-fall next week?

History suggests that the ups and downs will continue, but the team made some adjustments this week that provide some slivers of hope.

Offensively, the team was held in check more so than in recent weeks, but improved significantly since the last time these teams met.

Again, Andre Johnson was held to two catches, but unlike last time, the rest of the team was able to step up and make some plays. 

Steve Slaton finally found some running room, and Ryan Moats got his first significant action and made some key contributions.

Moats showed better patience than Slaton in waiting for the holes and, more importantly, held on to the ball — something that has been a challenge for Houston backs this season.

Defensively, the Texans did nothing significantly different than in previous weeks — except avoid the big mental errors.

The big plays this season have all come from broken assignments, over-aggressiveness, and poor fundamentals.

Against the Raiders, the team didn't miss a lot of tackles and had strong gap discipline, while maintaining an aggressive mindset.

Of course, this was all aided by poor decisions on JaMarcus Russell and some dropped balls by the Raider receivers.  There were a lot of plays available in the secondary, but Oakland was unable to capitalize.

The Arizona Cardinals will not be so generous next week.

The Houston Texans are still a very young team and with that comes the inconsistency we've seen so far.

There is still time for them to learn how to win consistently, and it will have to start with a single victory.

Perhaps this is that victory and this ride will finally stop.