23-year old linebacker Brian Cushing was an absolute demon on defense as a rookie in 2009 as he was the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.  But it was drug charged as he failed a test for PEDs and he was suspended for the first four games of this year.  Upon his return, he found the league much tougher when you aren’t cheating.  Cushing has played in 11 games for the Texans this year and he has 71 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 7 tackles for a loss, 4 passes defensed and 1 forced fumble.  He has now played in 27 games in his first two years with the Texans and he has 205 tackles, 14 passes defensed, 6.5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles and 4 interceptions.  The Texans are just going to have to accept that last season was a mirage for Cushing.

I’m starting to think that 49-year old head coach Gary Kubiak is doomed to be around a .500 coach in his career with the Texans.  He has them at 4-5 on the season and they really didn’t do much to help the defense during the off-season that has panned out.  The Texans are giving up 28.6 points per game and 409.7 yards per contest and it’s hard to win any games when you have that exacta working for you.  The Texans are 35-38 (47.9%) in Kubiak’s first five years as the head coach.

25-year old safety Bernard Pollard was awesome last season for the Texans.  He played in 13 games in which he had 102 tackles, 7 passes defensed, 1.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble and 4 interceptions (121 yards in returns with 1 TD).  This year has just not been the same despite Pollard leading the team in tackles as the big plays just have not been there for him.  Pollard has played in 8 games for the Texans so far this year and he has 74 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 2 passes defensed and 2 forced fumbles.  The Texans need Pollard to start making some big plays like he did last year.

23-year old outside linebacker Brian Cushing won the Defensive Rookie of the Year last season by playing in 16 games for the Texans in which he had 134 tackles, 5 sacks, 10 passes defensed, 2 forced fumbles and 4 interceptions.  He was suspended for the first four games for the 2010 season for using a banned substance to enhance his performance.  Cushing does not look like the same player for the Texans so far this year.  He has played in 4 games for the Texans so far this year and he has 27 tackles and 2 passes defensed.  The Texans need Cushing to step up if they are going to make the playoffs this year especially with Demeco Ryans out for the season.

23-year old Steve Slaton was awesome as a rookie for the Texans last season as he played in all 16 games carrying the ball 268 times for 1,282 yards (4.8 ypc) with 9 TD carries.  He also caught 50 passes for 377 yards (7.5 avg) with 1 TD grab this year.  Slaton only fumbled the ball 3 times all of last season losing 2 of them.  But, this season Slaton has had butter fingers as he has fumbled 7 times already this season losing 5 of them.  Slaton also has not played too well in general.  He has played in 9 games this season for the Texans and he has carried the ball 116 times for 359 yards (3.1 ypc) with 3 TD runs.  Slaton also has caught 32 passes for 326 yards (10.2 avg) with 3 TD grabs this season.  The Texans really need Slaton to return to the form he showed as a rookie last season to give the offense more balance.  If he continues to put the ball on the ground he will fall behind Ryan Moats and Chris Brown on the depth chart.

Steve Slaton has been terrible this season and he is in danger of losing carries to Chris Brown.  Slaton has carried the ball 26 times for 51 yards (2.0 ypc) this season.  He has also caught 6 passes for 60 yards (10.0 avg) this year.  He has fumbled the ball three times already this season (lost one of them).  Coach Kubiak has been very tough on Slaton as he wants the kid to play like he did last year.  The Texans are only averaging 50.5 yards rushing per game this season and that just won’t get the job done.