Oakland Raiders Vs. Houston Texans: Time to Figure Out the Rubik's Cube?

At the beginning of this year, both of these clubs had high hopes. Houston was coming off their first .500 season, and Oakland was retooling, with new players everywhere.

Oakland stumbled out of the gate and are sitting at 3-11, while Houston has righted a ship that started 0-4, added a 0-3 streak, and is now at 7-7.

And for added questions, Oakland has never won against the Texans, 0-3 to this day.

So, how does Oakland stand to win at home, or like the title says, solve the Rubik's cube?

First things first, is to get set with the running game. Last week, Oakland fell behind too fast, to get any sort of running game going, and by the time they did, it was junk time. McFadden's TD was nice, but it was a case of too little, too late.

Secondly, they need to find the defense that stopped the Broncos, Panthers, and Jets, and match it with the strong offense.

The need for a complete game is important, if anything, for the players. The fans need it, and personally, it's been a long time coming.

But if this season has taught the Raiders faithful anything, is that anything is possible in football. After all, Oakland finally beat Brett Favre this year.

For the Texans, at 7-7, they are looking to get above .500. Last year was a nice touch, but you could tell the players want more. Due to the tiebreakers, they are eliminated from the playoffs, but they could, with two more wins, finish with a better record than some other playoff-bound squads too.

Houston, led by a tandem of Steve Slaton and Andre Johnson, have a good foundation of talent to enjoy for years to come. They also have a couple questions at QB, if one can stay healthy.

Probably the one factor that Houston can bring into this game is last week's win against the Titans...that had to warm the hearts of the locals, who are still bitter about the Oilers leaving town.

For this game, I'll give Oakland 28 points...Houston 24, but a nail-biter in the fourth quarter.