The Texans won the AFC South for the first time in franchise history in a year in which they used four QBs due to injuries.  30-year old Matt Schaub was the first guy up and he was 7-3 as a starter.  He played in 10 games (all starts) for the Texans this year and he completed 178 of 292 passes (61%) for 2,479 yards with 15 TD passes and 6 INTs (96.8 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 15 times for 9 yards (0.6 ypc) with 2 TD runs last year.  Schaub has now played in 102 games (66 starts) so far in his NFL career and he has completed 1,466 of 2,279 passes (64.3%) for 17,936 yards with 98 TD passes and 58 INTs (92.2 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 157 times for 337 yards (2.1 ypc) with 4 TD runs in his NFL career.  Schaub is now 32-34 (48.5%) as a starting QB in the NFL.

28-year old Matt Leinart was the next guy up, but he broke his collarbone in his first start (a win for the Texans).  He played in 2 games (1 start) for the Texans last year and he completed 10 of 13 passes (76.9%) for 57 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs (110.1 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 1 time for -1 yard last year.  Leinart has now played in 31 games (18 starts) so far in his NFL career and he has completed 350 of 608 passes (57.6%) for 3,950 yards with 15 TD passes and 20 INTs (71.6 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 47 times for 89 yards (1.9 ypc) with 2 TD runs so far in his career.  He is now 8-10 (44.4%) as a starting QB in the NFL.

24-year old rookie fifth round pick T.J. Yates has been the starting QB the last five weeks for the Texans and they are 2-3 in that time.  Yates played in 6 games (5 starts) for the Texans this year and he completed 82 of 134 passes (61.2%) for 949 yards with 3 TD passes and 3 INTs (80.7 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 14 times for 57 yards (4.1 ypc) this year.  It will be interesting to see how Yates responds to the pressure of playoff football.

36-year old Jake Delhomme replaced T.J. Yates (due to injury) in the regular season finale against the Titans and he looked sharp.  He completed 18 of 28 passes (64.3%) for 211 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs (99.0 QB Rating.  He looks capable of replacing T.J.Yates tomorrow if he isn’t totally healthy.  Delhomme has now played in 103 games (96 starts) in his NFL career and he has completed 1,741 of 2,932 passes (59.4%) for 20,975 yards with 126 TD passes and 101 INTs (81.3 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 175 times for 328 yards (1.9 ypc) with 7 TD runs so  far in his career.  Delhomme is 56-40 (58.3%) as a starting QB during the regular season.

29-year old TE Owen Daniels has really stepped up this year with Andre Johnson banged up.  He has played in 11 games for the Texans so far this year and he has caught 41 passes for 509 yards (12.4 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  Texans’ QBs have completed 41 of 59 passes (69.5%) thrown to Daniels, so they need to keep looking for him.  Daniels has now played in 76 games in his first six years in the NFL and he has caught 286 passes for 3,481 yards (12.2 avg) with 20 TD grabs.  The Texans need Daniels to keep up the good work with QBs falling down like flies lately.

23-year old RB Ben Tate missed his rookie season due to knee surgery in 2010, so he’s making up for lost time this year!  Tate has played in 9 games so far this year for the Texans and he has carried the ball 122 times for 686 yards (5.6 ypc) with 3 TD runs.  He has also caught 5 passes for 40 yards (8.0 avg) this year.  Tate has four 100+ yard rushing games already this year, including 2 of them after Arian Foster returned to full health!  Tate has been especially dominating since the return of Foster.  In Tate’s last four games, he has carried the ball 45 times for 324 yards (7.2 ypc) with 2 TD runs!  Ben Tate is going to be a big key for the Texans the rest of the year with Matt Schaub done for the year.  That’s because the Texans are likely to become an even more run heavy team with Matt Leinart at QB.

50-year old head coach Gary Kubiak came into this season on the hot seat.  It got hotter when Wade Phillips was hired as the defensive co-ordinator as Kubiak’s possible successor was now on the coaching staff.  But, Phillips has worked well under Kubiak and the result is the Texans are 6-3 and on top of the AFC South.  The Texans are now 43-46 (48.3%) under Gary Kubiak in his six years in charge.  I think this is the season that the Texans make the playoffs and no team is going to want to draw them when they get there.

Safety Danieal Manning will need to be replaced as he is out right now due to injury.  He has returned 13 kickoffs for 356 yards (27.4 avg) so far this year.  To this point, Manning is the only player to return a kickoff this year for the Texans.  Jacoby Jones might replace Manning on kickoff returns with Andre Johnson back in action at WR.  Jones has returned 21 punts for 242 yards (11.5 avg) with 1 TD return so far this year.  Trindon Holliday is no longer with the Texans.  He returned 1 punt for 0 yards for the Texans this year.  The Texans have returned 13 kickoffs for 356 yards (27.4 avg) and 22 punts for 242 yards (11.0 avg) with 1 TD return.  The Texans need to continue getting solid production out of the return game, as they consistently have set up the offense with good starting field position.

2nd year RB Ben Tate missed his whole rookie season due to injury.  He has played in five games so far this year for the Texans and he has carried the ball 77 times for 362 yards (4.7 ypc) with 1 TD grab.  He also has caught 5 passes for 40 yards (8.0 avg) so far this year.  As good as Tate is, the Texans are glad to have Arian Foster back at full speed.  Foster has played in 4 games for the Texans so far this year and he has carried the ball 77 times for 305 yards (4.0 ypc) with 1 TD carry.  He has also caught 16 passes for 186 yards (11.6 avg) as Matt Schaub has been looking for Foster more this year in the passing game due to the injury to Andre Johnson.  #3 RB Derrick Ward has been dinged up most of this year.  He has played in 2 games for the Texans so far this year and he has carried the ball 11 times for 39 yards (3.5 ypc) with 1 TD run.  The Texans are averaging 126.2 yards rushing per game and 4.0 yards per carry so far this year, which has been pretty impressive.

Despite his bad decision on the last play of the game for the Raiders last weekend, 30-year old Matt Schaub has been solid overall this year.  Schaub has played in all five games for the Texans so far this year and he has completed 98 of 164 passes (59.8%) for 1,377 yards with 9 TD passes and 5 INTs (92.5 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 9 times for 3 yards (0.3 ypc) so far this year.  The Texans are pretty well balanced on offense and it will likely continue that way, especially until Andre Johnson returns from injury.

24-year old Connor Barwin is going to get the first shot to replace Mario Williams in the starting lineup.  Barwin has played in all five games for the Texans so far this year and he has 12 tackles, 2 sacks and 2 passes defensed.  In his first two years with the Texans, Barwin has played in 21 games in which he has 30 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, 1 tackle for a loss and 6 passes defensed.  The Texans are likely going to turn loose Barwin on the blitz a lot as that is what the OLBs do for the Texans.  I think he’s going to do a decent job for them going forward.

25-year old RB Arian Foster burst onto the scene with a breakout season in 2010 for the Texans.  He played in all 16 games in which he carried the ball 327 times for 1,616 yards (4.9 ypc) with 16 TD runs and he also caught 66 passes for 604 yards (9.2 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  He started this season late due to a hamstring injury, but he was back to his dominating form last Sunday against the Steelers in the Texans 17-10 win.  He carried the ball 30 times for 155 yards (5.2 ypc) with 1 TD run and he also caught 3 passes for 11 yards (3.7 avg).  Foster has now played in 2 games for the Texans so far this year and he has carried the ball 40 times for 188 yards (4.7 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also has caught 5 passes for 18 yards (3.6 avg) this year.  Ben Tate started the year out really well for the Texans, but he is getting kicked back to the bench for Arian Foster.

27-year old cornerback Jonathan Joseph wasn’t the Texans’ first choice to sign as far as cornerbacks were concerned (Nnamdi Asomugha), but he has really played well so far.  Joseph has played in all 3 games for the Texans so far this year and he has 12 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 5 passes defensed and 2 interceptions.  The secondary is playing a lot better for the Texans this year and Joseph is a big part of it.