Texans-49ers: Houston Won, So Why Am I Still Nervous?

Sometimes I need to remind myself not to be too negative.

I mean, we won right?

It's hard to win in the NFL.  Shouldn't we all be excited after a win?

Still, I didn't wake up today with that exciting feeling that you get after a solid victory.

I wonder if Arizona fans felt this way after week five?

Let me start, however, with the things that I am very happy about.

First off, the run defense was fantastic.  I'm probably more excited about this than any other aspect of the team right now.

Yes, the passing game is stronger, but only four measly weeks ago, we weren't just wondering if the run defense was the worst in the league, we were wondering if it was one of the worst of all time.

Now, we are coming off back-to-back weeks shutting down stellar running backs. 

Sure, Frank Gore may have been out for a few weeks, but he's still a major threat running the ball. And did you notice what Cedric Benson did yesterday?

Cedric Benson was leading the league in rushing after five weeks before we shut him down last week. He rebounded yesterday to the tune of 189 yards and a touchdown, and he again leads the league in rushing yards.

Second, the passing game is still unstoppable.  Schaub leads the league in yards, touchdowns, has a 104.4 passer rating, and has only thrown five interceptions. 

I've heard some say that he is bailed out by his receivers making great catches and recording a lot of yards after the catch, but shouldn't we then discount Tom Brady for all of Randy Moss's acrobatic catches?

The fact is, Matt Schaub is playing at an elite level this year.  Whether he starts entering the discussion of elite players will depend on his sustaining this level of play, but after seven weeks he has to be considered among the best this season.

So why am I still concerned?

Well, there were three things that happened yesterday which make me extremely nervous.

The first is the fact that Steve Slaton fumbled two more times.

Yes, I know the box score only shows one, but just because he was ruled down on the other, doesn't mean he doesn't have to hold on to the ball.  It is possible—even adviseable—to hold on to the ball after your knee touches the ground.

The announcers and Slaton were talking about how it's his fourth lost fumble of the year, but even that doesn't fully explain the extent of the situation.

Slaton also has two other fumbles that were recovered by the Texans and two that were called back after replay.  That's nine times in seven games where he has lost a grip on the ball.

Even more disturbing is that this has been going on for more than a month, so he has been working to fix it, but failing miserably. They must try something different.

A few years ago, Tiki Barber had a fumbling issue and started carrying the ball higher.  He had the ability to be an elite back, but until he made that change, he could not be relied upon to consistently carry the ball. 

That adjustment allowed the team to rely on him in critical situations and ultimately made him a more complete (and more wealthy) running back.

Perhaps Slaton needs to do something more drastic than just trying harder.

The second item that gave me heartburn over this win was our inability to adjust to San Francisco's offensive changes.

To start, I have to give supreme credit to Mike Singletary with regards to completely changing the team's offensive philosophy at half time.

Changing quarterbacks and moving to more of a spread offense took some serious guts.

If it doesn't work, he leaves himself open to some serious second guessing and, more importantly, may have led to the demise of Shaun Hill's confidence. It could have created a major roadblock that could derail the 49ers season.

Even if it does work, Singletary opens himself up to an endless slew of questioning about who will quarterback the team in the future.  If he re-installs Hill and he struggles, the calls will come for Alex Smith. 

So I have to credit coach Singletary for having the intestinal fortitude to make the change midstream.

That said, the Texans' response was putrid.

I'll admit that Alex Smith was the number one pick in the draft because he has the ability to make plays, but he was also beat out by an undrafted free agent.

Smith hadn't thrown a regular season pass since November 12, 2007 and hadn't thrown a touchdown pass since October 28 of the same year. The fact that he directed three touchdown drives in one half suggests that while our run defense has improved, our pass defense remains a question.

The Texans' pass rush struggled to put pressure on Smith in the second half, and when they did, he was able to avoid it. 

Furthermore, the coverage down field made it easy on Smith with the team failing to provide tight coverage on the talented San Francisco receivers. 

But this is nothing new to Texans fans as we have watched the team struggle to find consistency in the secondary for many years.  There has been a lot of turnover in that area, but the team has not been able to shut down opposing quarterbacks.

In fact, I am already beginning to enter my annual paranoia about facing Peyton Manning in two weeks.

The last thing that has prevented me from garnering much enjoyment from this victory is the injury to Andre Johnson. 

I've mentioned many times that I feel that Andre Johnson is the best wide receiver in football today, and perhaps no receiver in the league is as valuable to his team's passing game.

Even on days when Johnson doesn't register 10 catches and two touchdowns, he opens things up for Owen Daniels and Kevin Walter by the amount of coverage that he demands.

He can go deep with speed as easily as he can go across the middle with authority.

Without Johnson, the offense stalls.  We saw this two years ago when he missed seven games and the Texans went 2-5.

Now, I have heard nothing to suggest that he will miss any time, but he's among the toughest players in the NFL, so when he leaves the field, you know he's in pain.

Hopefully my concerns over Andre Johnson are unfounded, but the rest of my fears are real.

The Texans have won two in a row and have an excellent chance next week to push their record to 5-3.

For the first time in history, Texans fans have a chance to look at their position half way through the season and think that they can make the playoffs.

And perhaps that is why I'm more concerned this season than I have been in seasons past—there's finally something at stake.

These are all fixable things (although more talent in the secondary wouldn't hurt), and if corrected, we may finally see Texans football in January.

But maybe this isn't the time to worry about those things.  Maybe I should just deal with that later and enjoy the fact that we escaped with a victory.

After all, if the Texans do make the playoffs, I'll have plenty to be nervous about then.