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Earlier this week, Texans owner Bob McNair talked about negotiating contract extensions for coach Gary Kubiak and general manager Rick Smith.

That got me thinking: Who are the AFC South players who need contract extensions before they get anywhere close to an expired contract at the start of the 2013 league year?

Here are my top six:

1) Matt Schaub, Texans quarterback

I understand there are some non-believers. In five seasons with the Texans, Schaub has played a full slate of games only twice. He’s not been consistently clutch in big moments.

Still, I see him as a quality engineer of Kubiak’s offense. I think the team loves him and has faith in him. And although rookie T.J. Yates did some good work while filling in for Schaub last season, I don’t think the Texans would be comfortable handing the team over to Yates after he's been in the league only two seasons, especially if he plays only a little or not at all this season because Schaub is in the lineup.

I’d make sure Schaub’s fully recovered from the serious right foot injury that ended his 2011 season. If he plays well in the first month of the season, I’d talk to his agent. Even if they wait until after the 2012 season plays out, gauging his health and seeing how far he can take them, Schaub is their guy.

He’s not the best player on this list, but as a starting quarterback, he goes to the head of the line. Is he a top quarterback in the league? My count says he’s 13th or 14th among current starters. You’d like better, but can do far worse and I don’t think you can project Yates to rank any higher. The Texans aren't going to be drafting at the top of the first round, and none of the guys better than Schaub are going to be hitting the market. So there is no place to go to upgrade.

2) Connor Barwin, Texans outside linebacker

The Texans projected Barwin could be a quality pass-rusher when they drafted him out of Cincinnati in 2009 with a second-round pick. Last year, in Wade Phillips’ 3-4 defense, Barwin was a consistent pass-rushing force, playing nearly 95 percent of the team’s defensive snaps and recording 11.5 sacks.

Barwin is part of the reason the franchise could afford to let Mario Williams depart as a free agent. The Texans simply cannot allow Barwin to follow Williams out of town. And with the increase in 3-4 defenses around the league, there are a lot of teams that would make a play for Barwin if he came free.

3) Daryl Smith, Jacksonville linebacker

Smith’s known for being an underrated player.

He’s an anchor for the Jaguars, and I expect he’ll shine in a healthy defense in 2012. The unit has a chance to be great, and Smith will shine if the coverage behind him is good and the rush in front of him can be consistent. They have the people for both of those elements to be in place.

The Jaguars would certainly like to keep a starting linebacker corps of Smith, Paul Posluszny and Clint Session together.

4) Duane Brown, Texans left tackle

I don’t think he’s regarded around the league as a premier guy who would draw a ton of interest if he became a free agent. But he is regarded as an excellent player in the Texans' line scheme. The team is moving forward, replacing Mike Brisiel at right guard and Eric Winston at right tackle.

The Texans did what they had to in order to keep center Chris Myers. They will need to do the same with Brown. They must hold together the key pieces of what was an excellent group in 2011. Brown is vital for the success of Schaub, or Yates, as well as running back Arian Foster.

5) Jason McCourty, Titans cornerback

He’s a solid player on the rise. He plays a position where he will have a chance to establish himself as a productive leader who needs to be in place for the long term.

Cortland Finnegan is gone. And the team is weak at safety, where Michael Griffin is getting one last chance under the franchise tag and Jordan Babineaux owns a starting spot at least in part because the Titans don’t have other options.

McCourty is a smart player who should be the best member of the secondary in 2012 and beyond provided they are able to keep him.

6) Terrance Knighton, Jaguars defensive tackle

He suffered a serious eye injury in a bar incident not long ago, but indications are he should be OK for training camp. Knighton has had weight issues since he came into the league. He seems to have gained better control of that, and general manager Gene Smith made it clear to Knighton that if he proves he can remain fit he’ll be taken care of in the long run.

Knighton moves very well for a very large man, and the Jaguars believe if their defense will be good, it will be because Knighton and Tyson Alualu anchor the middle, stuffing the run and moving the quarterback off his spot.

Also not under contract for 2013 and likely worthy of new deals: Texans safety Glover Quin, Colts cornerback Jerraud Powers, Jaguars cornerback Derek Cox, Titans tight end Jared Cook and Colts receiver Austin Collie.

Saturday’s mailbag led with a note from a frustrated Jags fan.

It was such a big hit, I thought we’d give a frustrated Texans fan a chance.

LX Aguirre from El Paso writes: Will the Houston Texans show some signs of intelligence any time soon???? After their first playoff appearance and a small taste of victory on wildcard weekend, I expected more from them. The only moves they've made so far were the retention of Myers and Foster. You may reason that the team's inactivity is due to salary cap issues, but that excuse becomes irrelevant when the team is willing to trade its Defensive Captain and lose money in the process. The betrayal to DeMeco was magnified because the team had just lost M. Williams, the most powerful defensive weapon; and the lopsided trade showed that management has a disregard for team continuity, fan loyalty, and esprit de corps. For the Texans, continuity involves getting rid of their good players like Williams and D. Ryans (Pollard, Leach, Robinson in previous years) while stubbornly holding on to unproductive failures like J. Jones, K. Jackson (ESPECIALLY KAREEM JACKSON!!!!), and Quinn. With Manning gone, the division is almost a guarantee, but the Texans will lose the crown this year because of indecisiveness and lack of aggression.

Paul Kuharsky: I am taking a deep breath … OK, I am ready.

Has it been a good offseason? Of course not. But good teams tend to be up against it financially and lose good players. They took an additional $750,000 loss on Ryans this year to save a ton of money over the next three years. That money will help them be able to sign guys like Duane Brown and Connor Barwin, and prevent you from ripping them next year for not holding the team together.

DeMeco Ryans was a great leader, but no longer a very good player. He wasn’t even on the field for 60 percent of the team’s defensive plays. You think they’d have been sitting him so often if he was great for them?

You wanted them to keep Bernard Pollard, who couldn’t cover, and Vonta Leach, who got way too much money and plays one-third of the snaps, and Dunta Robinson, who was not close to worth what Atlanta gave him? I’d argue that you are being too emotional.

Glover Quin (with one N) is a good player, I don’t know why you would lump him in with Jacoby Jones and Kareem Jackson. Do they like those two guys too much? Sure. But it’s too early to give up on Jackson and the savings would be minimal at this point. And why cut Jones right now without a replacement in sight? Dumping him wasn’t going to save a guy they lost.

The three areas you list as dented are all not nearly as relevant to team success as you may think.

Continuity is nice (especially on the offensive line). But teams regularly turn over 25 to 35 percent of their roster.

You don’t really want teams making decisions based on fan loyalty, do you? Fan loyalty can change week-to-week, and a lot of fans are loyal to Tim Tebow despite the fact he can’t throw with anything close to NFL-caliber accuracy. Should the Broncos have kept him because of fan loyalty? Should the Texans have overspent on Leach and Robinson just because you liked them?

Esprit de corps? Sure, guys are upset in the offseason when they see good players and friends leave. When it comes time to play, if they are pros, they go out and do their job and expect the guys beside them to do theirs. Collectively, they should get good results. Trust me, come the first huddle, an NFL players mentality doesn’t allow him to look around in there and sentimentally contemplate who isn’t there.

The Texans have work to do. But it’s not a train wreck. They showed good depth last year. Now they need guys to step into roles that opened and for players like corner Brandon Harris and outside linebacker Bryan Braman to be that depth. They’ll restock with the draft and contend for the division and a deep run into the playoffs, I’d bet.

Monday we presented the All AFC-South offense. Today we move to defense and special teams.

I felt like there was a worthy candidate at every spot, and beyond wrestling with choosing between Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis for a defensive end spot, I didn’t have any gigantic struggles.

To accommodate the personnel of the 3-4 Texans along with the 4-3 Colts, Texans and Titans, we created a 12-man defense with four linemen and four linebackers. It seemed like a fair approach to me that stops short of bastardizing the team.

DEs: Houston rookie J.J. Watt was a giant presence from the start, serving as a key piece of the team’s revamped front. He was easily the division’s rookie of the year. Mathis gets the nod over Freeney but it could have gone either way. They both had fewer chances because teams threw less against them, but remained quite effective.

DTs: Antonio Smith of the Texans played end in base and tackle in nickel and his versatility was really highlighted in the 3-4 system. Casey was not at a similar level, but the Titans rookie was a stout and reliable run-stopper.

OLBs: The Jaguars were stacked at linebacker thanks to their free-agent shopping. On an upgraded defense, Daryl Smith really got to show himself a fine player. In Houston, Connor Barwin blossomed into an 11.5-sack guy who was constantly around the quarterback.

ILBs: Brian Cushing was a terror for the Texans, proving an excellent fit as an inside backer for Wade Phillips. At his best, he was something to behold. The same can be said for Jacksonville’s Paul Posluszny. He gave the Jaguars everything they were looking for in terms of production and leadership as a free-agent acquisition.

CBs: Houston’s Johnathan Joseph was the AFC South MVP in my eyes. The Texans hit a home run by adding Joseph, a settling force in the secondary who played sticky coverage all season. Tennessee’s Cortland Finnegan didn’t produce on the same level, but his willingness and ability to shift inside and play a physical brand of nickel was a positive factor for the Titans' defense.

S: The Texans' move of Glover Quin from nickel corner to strong safety worked out beautifully and they are trend-setters in terms of having guys with corner skills playing in the middle of the field. He was steady and productive. Dwight Lowery showed good smarts and awareness for the Jaguars at a spot that was a huge hole the previous season. Signing him will be a priority.

K: Rob Bironas of the Titans missed just three field goals all season. While Jacksonville’s Josh Scobee missed only two, he tried fewer. And Bironas had a division-high 44 touchbacks

P: The Colts' Pat McAfee gets the edge over the Titans' Brett Kern in a very close race. Punting out of trouble was more important more often for Indianapolis, and McAfee’s net average was hurt by less than stellar coverage but shouldn’t offset his slightly bigger leg.

PR, KR: There was no outstanding work done in these spots for anyone in the division, so we pretty much go chalk. Tennessee punt returner Marc Mariani led in punt return average and Jacksonville kick returner Deji Karim led the division in kick return average.

ST: Kassim Osgood of the Jaguars continued to be a top guy in coverage work.

We’ll wait until next week to start building the All-AFC South Team, and you’ll have a big chance to offer input there.

This week we’ll pass out hardware for individual awards.

Drum roll please:

Player of the year: Johnathan Joseph, Texans cornerback. Runner up: Brian Cushing, Texans inside linebacker.

Joseph, Cushing and Antonio Smith were the players I sorted through here, and you can make a case for any of them. While the Texans were a better defense at every level, it was the secondary that had the biggest room for improvement. Joseph’s ability to match up with a team’s best receiver eased the pressure on everyone else in the secondary and helped transform a miserable pass defense into an excellent one. In the Texans’ playoff loss in Baltimore he blanketed Ravens receiver Torrey Smith, rendering him a non-factor.

Offensive player of the year: Maurice Jones-Drew, Jaguars running back. Runner up: Arian Foster, Texans running back.

It’s hard to fathom that Jones-Drew was the NFL rushing champ considering that defenses could regularly key on him without fear of any real threat from the passing offense, which ranked dead last in the NFL. He showed no signs of wearing down and averaged 100 yards a game. It felt like a waste on a five-win team. Foster missed some action early with hamstring issues or he would have likely challenged Jones-Drew in rushing yards. He’s a tremendous combination of power and speed and does excellent work as a pass catcher.

Rookie of the year: J.J. Watt, Texans defensive end. Runner up: Brooks Reed, Texans outside linebacker.

Watt was installed as a starter the moment the Texans drafted him and was an impactful player from his first snap. A relentless player, he was a force against the run and the pass and played beautifully in concert with the rest of the defensive front. His ability to get his hands on balls at the line of scrimmage turned into a monumental interception return for a touchdown in the playoff win over Cincinnati. Reed filled in very well after Mario Williams was lost for the season and may actually help the team decide Williams is expendable.

Best assistant coach: Wade Phillips, Texans defensive coordinator. Runner up, Mel Tucker, Jaguars defensive coordinator.

Phillips was a factor in the personnel decisions that brought Joseph, Danieal Manning, Watt and Reed into the fold for Houston. In his first year as defensive coordinator, he injected a huge dose of confidence into the Texans defenders and wisely drew up schemes that featured guys’ strengths and marked their weaknesses. The sort of turnaround the defense made in one year is practically unheard of. In Jacksonville, Tucker was given a huge boost with new personnel, but as he took over play-calling from Jack Del Rio, he excelled.

Best position coach: Dave Ragone, Titans receivers coach. Runner up, Vance Joseph, Texans secondary coach.

Ragone had no experience working with receivers coming into this job, but did fantastic work. He deserves a great deal of credit for the vast improvement and maturation of Nate Washington and the emergence of Damian Williams as a threat and Lavelle Hawkins as a guy who did some good things with the ball in his hands. In his first season with the Texans, Joseph helped some guys regain confidence while overseeing a successful move of Glover Quin from corner to strong safety.

Executive of the year: Rick Smith, Texans general manager.

He had lots of help, but completely nailed free agency, signing Joseph and Manning rather than Nnamdi Asomugha. And the top of the draft was fantastic, with Watt and Reed. As Houston suffered injuries at running back, receiver, linebacker and even punter, the Texans showed good depth and an ability to fill in holes with quality outsiders.

Best unit: Texans offensive line. Runner up: Texans linebackers.

Led by center Chris Myers, who may be the division’s most unsung player, Houston’s offensive line blocked consistently well for the run game and protected three different quarterbacks well. Left tackle Duane Brown and right tackle Eric Winston both earned mentions on various All-Pro teams. Antoine Caldwell filled in nicely when Mike Brisiel missed time at right guard. The Texans linebackers, even without Mario Williams, did spectacular, work stuffing the run and swarming quarterbacks all season long.

Worst unit: Jaguars receivers. Runner up: Colts cornerbacks.

Mike Thomas might be a No. 2 receiver and can certainly be a good No. 3, though his play in 2011 dropped off after he got a contract extension. But Jason Hill, who started as the No. 2 guy, wound up getting cut and guys like Jarett Dillard, rookie Cecil Shorts, Chastin West and Kassim Osgood did little to show they were NFL-caliber guys. Blaine Gabbert suffered the consequences. The Colts were insufficiently stocked at corner, though Jacob Lacey bounced back well late in the season after he was benched.

Most improved: Nate Washington, Titans receiver. Runner up: Connor Barwin, Texans outside linebacker.

Washington’s maturation was remarkable. An excitable guy really calmed down and settled in working under offensive coordinator Chris Palmer and Ragone and with Matt Hasselbeck. Washington figured to be better with those guys while working as the No. 2 behind Kenny Britt, but Britt was lost for the season early on and Washington wound up with a 1,000-yard season and seven touchdowns. I give him the nod because I didn’t believe he had untapped upside. That was not the case with Barwin, who the Texans have expected to be a pass-rushing force since they drafted him in 2009.

Most disappointing: Chris Johnson, Titans running back. Runner up: Marcedes Lewis, Jaguars tight end.

I don’t care what sort of defenses are offered up for Johnson. He simply did not run as hard after coming out of a holdout with a giant new contract. There were other issues, but too often he appeared to lack fire and desire. In the rare instances he wound up in a one-on-one situation he was hardly the threat he’s been in the past. If he doesn’t bounce back in 2012, the contract will turn out to be disastrous. Lewis was supposed to be transformed by his MMA training during the lockout. If it impacted him, it made him worse. Expecting another 10 touchdowns was unreasonable. Producing none was unacceptable.

Best position revamp: TIE, Jaguars safeties and Texans safeties.

Both teams were terrible at the position a year ago and despite a draft class that was incredibly thin, reshaped the spot with great results. The Texans shifted Quin from cornerback and he was very solid alongside free-agent addition Manning. The Jaguars signed Dawan Landry from Baltimore and traded for Dwight Lowery, shifting a guy who’d played mostly corner to play with Landry. Applause to both teams for fine work addressing a trouble position.

Surprise of the year: T.J. Yates, Texans quarterback.

The finish in the playoff loss to Baltimore was a big disappointment. But Yates took over a good team when Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart went down in quick succession and played beyond what could reasonably be expected from a fifth-round rookie quarterback.

Colt of the year: Pat Angerer, middle linebacker.

As Indianapolis was not mentioned here at all, we create this category for the Colts. Angerer showed himself to be a quality starter who has to be in the lineup going forward. That may mean the end of Gary Brackett, the veteran middle linebacker who was hurt in Week 1 and missed the season. Angerer is a rangy, instinctive player who’s sure to impress new general manager Ryan Grigson.

BALTIMORE -- The equipment truck just outside the Houston Texans' locker room sounded in need of a tuneup. It chugged loudly and unnecessarily in a tunnel at M&T Bank Stadium, doing its part to drown out the ugly end of a breakthrough season.

But the Texans spoke up proudly about the season that had just crashed to a close, talking of the disappointing suddenness of losing 20-13 to the Baltimore Ravens and falling just short of a trip to play the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game.

“Everybody sees the potential that this team has now,” said running back Arian Foster, who sliced through Baltimore’s vaunted defense for 132 rushing yards. “I think we gained a little respect in this league this year and it only continues to grow from here. We have a young team, a talented team and I think the upside is tremendous.”

Still, opportunities like this one are hard to come by and missing out on them fills a team with regret.

In a regular-season loss here on Oct. 16, the Texans saw the Ravens really come after the quarterback. But with rookie T.J. Yates under center rather than veteran Matt Schaub, Baltimore backed off, looking to complicate things with coverage rather than pressure.

And the hosts got what they needed, making the conventional pregame wisdom come true: a rookie quarterback wouldn’t be able to win here.

Yates threw three interceptions that turned into 10 points. The real killer of the trio was No. 3. Houston had the ball at the Ravens’ 38-yard line at the two-minute warning. The coverage showed just a single high safety and that dictated Yates to look to Andre Johnson deep down the right side.

But Yates failed to convince that lone safety, perennial Pro Bowler Ed Reed, to linger in center field. Reed raced to the right side of the end zone, went up and pulled in a pass intended for Johnson.

“You can’t coach a kid enough as a quarterback how good No. 20 is in the middle of the field and he found out the hard way today,” Texans coach Gary Kubiak said.

Said Yates: “I learned pretty quickly that just because I read the right coverage, it may not work. Ed Reed makes up for so much. He is all over the place. You may be making the right read, but Reed will make a play anyway.”

It shouldn’t have come down to a single scenario.

After they fell behind 17-3, the Texans really took control of the game. The defense sacked Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco five times and made him very uncomfortable. Cornerback Johnathan Joseph blanketed receiver Torrey Smith, who made one 9-yard catch. The Ravens didn’t break a run longer than 9 yards. Eight times in 15 possessions the Ravens punted after only three plays. The Texans produced a big goal-line stand at the end of the third quarter.

But Houston couldn’t find a takeaway to offset its giveaways -- the three picks and a fumbled punt by Jacoby Jones.

They popped the ball out twice, but fumbles by Flacco and Ray Rice were recovered by the Ravens.

“If they would have just bounced our way I think we would have got a whole other outcome,” defensive end Antonio Smith said.

In time, the Texans will come to appreciate a landmark season. They captured the AFC South crown, earned the franchise’s first playoff berth and won a wild-card round playoff game over Cincinnati before falling just short against the Ravens.

Because of the way it played out, they left town convinced they were the better team that just didn’t play better.

Tired as they may be, they’ll be tossing and turning Sunday night and beyond, running through plays they could have made that would have made things different.

“I’m not going to get a lot of sleep tonight, I know a lot of guys on this team are not going to get a lot of sleep tonight,” said Foster, who traded jerseys with Ray Lewis after the game. “It’s what we do for a living, it’s how we defend our legacy, how we write our story.

“And it matters. It matters to me. It matters to these guys in this locker room. It’s one of those things that’s going to haunt you until you can get that taste out of your mouth Week 1 of next year.”

Players are accustomed to routine and always expect to win. They go about their business expecting the pattern to continue. Everything tells them that Monday morning should be about review and recovery and the start of a plan for what’s next.

But now, nothing’s next.

“It’s weird,” linebacker Brian Cushing said. “I don’t think anyone wants to stop playing football in here and I think that’s a different feeling than we’ve ever had in this locker room.”

Wait 'til next year is the familiar refrain of every talented team that comes up short.

The Texans said it Sunday, still hurting. The sentiment will grow stronger as time passes, putting distance between them and the details of this loss.

“Coming into an environment like this, you have to play clean,” safety Glover Quin said. “We didn’t play clean on offense or defense and they won the game.

“Next year will be different. This game will be at our house.”

» Divisional Final Word: Saints-49ers | Broncos-Patriots | Texans-Ravens | Giants-Packers

Three nuggets of knowledge about Houston Texans-Baltimore Ravens:

Defending the middle of the field: Will Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco be able to throw to his favorite area of the field? According to ESPN Stats & Info, Flacco has completed 64.3 percent of his throws inside the numbers this season compared with 51.3 percent outside. The Texans allowed the fewest touchdown passes (three) and lowest completion percentage (56.8) inside the numbers this season. They also grabbed 11 of their 17 interceptions in that territory. Safety play has a huge bearing on these numbers, vast improvements over what the 2010 Texans did. Watch Glover Quin and Danieal Manning patrolling the middle of the field.

Between the tackles: I’m not sure the Texans should spend much time trying to run up the middle. The Ravens prevented the Texans from grinding it out between the tackles in Week 6 when Baltimore won 29-14. The Texans averaged 6.5 yards per rush outside the tackles in the game, but only 2.8 between the tackles. (That number is 4.8 in the rest of their games.) This season, the Ravens have allowed the fewest yards per rush (3.51) between the tackles. The Texans are great at moving laterally, stretching a front out and allowing Arian Foster or Ben Tate to judge where the crease is and go. They’ll need to do that effectively to have a chance in this game.

Breaking down T.J. Yates: Yates joined Flacco and Mark Sanchez as the only rookie quarterbacks since 1966 to not throw an interception in their first playoff game. Yates has benefited greatly from play-action, with 2.7 more yards per attempt and a QBR of 57.2, 13.9 points higher than when the Texans don’t run play-action. On throws that have traveled 15 yards or more in the air, Yates has unsurprisingly fared far better with Andre Johnson as the target. The quarterback is averaging 14.1 yards per such attempt when Johnson is the target, and 9 yards when it’s anyone else.

When we sketched out the Texans’ season, predicting their best scenarios, we never subtracted stars.

The equation allowed for injuries, of course, but no one forecasts a team losing its top defensive player and its starting quarterback.

With losses like that, with Mario Williams watching and Matt Schaub cheering, the Texans still won the wide-open AFC South. They still earned a home playoff game. They still beat Cincinnati to advance to Sunday’s divisional-round matchup in Baltimore.

The Ravens haven’t been beaten at M&T Bank Stadium, and they worked this season to ensure they’d play at least one postseason game there. John Harbaugh’s Ravens have been a constant playoff presence with a 4-3 record in three seasons. But this will be their first home playoff game since Jan. 13, 2007, when they lost a 15-6 divisional-round playoff game to Indianapolis.

So it’s a huge opportunity for both teams, 60 minutes from the AFC Championship Game.

But the expectations couldn't be more different.

If the Texans win Sunday, they will be Cinderella, a team run by a third-string rookie quarterback making an improbable charge. Cue “Against All Odds” and ramp up the team-of-destiny talk.

If the Texans lose it, it’ll sting for sure, but the season assessment should be unanimous: It was a success, and it laid groundwork that the franchise should be able to build on for the next several years.

If the Ravens win it, well, they were supposed to. If they lose it, it’ll be a catastrophe.

Among all the clichéd sayings that fly around NFL locker rooms, I’ve always kind of liked “Pressure bursts pipes.”

I don’t think the Ravens are heading into the game feeling worried. But if the Texans hang around or jump to a lead, the pressure at play could come to the surface and be a factor. The loose Texans aren’t thinking they’ve got nothing at stake, but on some level they know that the tension level should be higher on the other sideline.

“We have nothing to lose, according to people,” Texans receiver Kevin Walter said. “We’re going to go out there. We’re going to play sound football. We’re going to play good football and play with energy. That’s what we need to do.”

Over the past few years and heading into this season, I’ve been critical of Houston coach Gary Kubiak and his team for being too low-key, too aw-shucks. I thought adding Wade Phillips as defensive coordinator would add another heavy dose of that.

They needed a jerk in the locker room to give them a more diverse team personality, I wrote. (And Andre Johnson kind of agreed.)

But the team personality has hardly been an issue. It’s been a resilient bunch, able to rally in all sorts of different, difficult circumstances. That low-key personality comes with a certain looseness, which can be an enjoyable quality and a beneficial one.

“I’ve talked to several guys who have come from other organizations that say that Coach Kubiak is probably the coolest coach in the league,” safety Glover Quin said. “And they say, 'Do whatever you have to do to stay here, whatever you got to do, take pay cuts, whatever, stay here.' He’s a good guy. Like I said, he’ll walk past you and speak. Some coaches probably don’t even walk past the guys and speak to them. Every time he sees you he’ll speak, and he’s always an even-keeled guy, and he expects a lot out of us. And the way he treats us, we have to go out and play hard for him.”

If the Texans' season ends Sunday, it won’t be because they have too many mellow guys playing for a mellow coach. It will be because they’ve met their match.

And although T.J. Yates is a concern against a defense as good as Baltimore’s, Joe Flacco isn't a guaranteed good performer in a big setting. In seven playoff games, he’s hit on only 53.3 percent of his passes, he’s thrown four touchdowns and seven picks, and he's had a 61.6 passer rating.

The Texans used their formula to perfection in the wild-card round, and it can work in Baltimore. Play great defense with consistent pressure on the quarterback, prompting mistakes while running the ball effectively and minimizing how much falls on Yates.

“I love being the underdog,” Walter said. “That’s what it’s about. People aren’t going to give us a chance this week. People didn’t give us a chance last week. I’ve been an underdog my whole life, and people say I can’t do this, can’t do that. That just motivates me.

“I know it motivates those guys in that locker room, and we’re looking forward to going to Baltimore and playing well.”

If they don’t, it won’t be long before the end is brushed aside in favor of a broader look at a successful season. If they do and it gets them to a title game against New England or Denver, we’ll reassess expectations.

The city of Houston's been waiting since 1993 to make the playoffs.

"That's a lot of years, man, I was 7 years old," running back Arian Foster said. "I'm proud to be a part of this team."

Saturday at Reliant Stadium, the Texans host the Bengals in the first game of the wild-card weekend. If Houston wins, the Texans earn a trip to Baltimore for a rematch with the Ravens.

“Just be ready for Saturday and bring your best stuff because you’ll see the best game the Texans have played all year, and I can guarantee that," Brian Cushing told Houston fans in an appearance on KILT. " … I haven’t been this excited about a football game maybe ever.”

The atmosphere will be something to behold as Reliant at its best this season has been deafeningly loud.

I think the players have a good handle on how to enjoy and appreciate the story while focusing on their work rather than the buzz.

"The city is fired up and that's a good feeling," safety Glover Quin said. "Our focus is just on getting wins and we'll let the city stay on fire. There will be more fire when we get this win so we have to go out and do our job."

The Houston Texans' defense was a mess last season, and while Glover Quin had a lot of skills befitting a safety, I was among those that questioned the logic of moving the team’s best corner.

But in with everything else the Texans did from 2010 to 2011 to transform their defense, Quin’s shift to safety has worked out beautifully.

He lines up at strong safety in the base defense, but covers a lot of tight ends and running backs in a dime package the team uses a lot too -- when Troy Nolan or Quintin Demps takes his place.

“I feel like a safety but I play so much man-to-man too,” he said. “Call me a hybrid.”

Matt Williamson of Scouts Inc. loves the work Quin has done and likes him as a piece of a strong secondary.

“I really like Quin at safety,” Williamson said. “Unlike most teams, the Texans have big cornerback types at safety, which gives them a lot more flexibility with their coverage. Quin can walk down and cover the slot or handle deep patrol in centerfield or in Cover-2. And he doesn’t lack for physicality.”

As a corner last season, he pulled in three interceptions. This year has produced none, though he said his teammates still give him grief for one they think he should have had at Jacksonville.

Texans defensive backs coach Vance Joseph called Quin the poster of consistency.

“We thought he was going to be an average, OK corner, but a pretty good safety,” said Joseph, who’s in his first year with Houston. “Any time you can find a safety with corner qualities, that’s a big-time safety. It’s been natural for him.

“He’s a tough, physical tackler and with his corner ability he can cover some of the flat receivers one-on-one. He gives us the opportunities versus some of the three-wide teams to stay in our base package on first and second down. That allows us to play our man coverage, to play our zone coverage and to keep the box heavy with linebackers.”

Quin chipped in with five tackles when the Texans beat the Bengals 20-19 in Cincinnati on Dec. 11.

In Saturday's rematch, he will surely be a factor in limiting quarterback Andy Dalton's passes to tight end Jermaine Gresham, the team's second leading receiver with 56 catches this season.

Make a case for New Orleans running back Darren Sproles if you'd like. Philadelphia defensive end Jason Babin has been a sack machine. Matt Hasselbeck could get some votes for his work as a culture changer and quarterback in Tennessee.

But my vote for the best free-agent addition in 2011 goes to Johnathan Joseph, the Houston cornerback who’s been the key component in a transformation of the Texans’ secondary.

A miserable pass defense that ranked dead last in the NFL last season now stands tied for second, a ridiculous jump that could only happen with multiple ingredients:

New coordinator Wade Phillips and his new 3-4 scheme.

A consistent rush from a swarming defensive front, bolstered by the team’s top two rookies, end J.J. Watt and outside linebacker Brooks Reed.

And the addition of Joseph and safety Danieal Manning to a young secondary.

“Joseph has been exactly what they needed,” a scout told me this week. “After a horrible first-round draft pick in 2010 in Kareem Jackson, they made up for it with Joseph. He is fast, athletic and can match up with most receivers in the AFC. He plays bigger than his size (5-foot-11, 191 pounds), because he has good functional strength.

“The added pass rush has helped him, but he is a good player versus run and pass. He was added to the top of the group which allowed players like Jackson and others to play more of a role instead of trying to get things out of them that they were not capable of doing.”


Joseph has regularly matched up with the opponent’s best wide receiver, and his work earned him a Pro Bowl spot.

Sunday, when the Titans are in their base offense and Nate Washington lines up outside, Joseph will track him. In his first two years in the league after he was the 24th pick out of South Carolina in the 2006 draft, Joseph played on the right. The three years after that he was on the left.

Flipping around hasn’t been a problem and he’s happy to be looked at to slow an opponent’s best guy.

“It was something new that I had to adjust to,” Joseph said. “If that gives us our best chance to win, that’s what I am up for. Covering the top guy, you’ve got to go out each week and try to win your battle. We have a saying here about going out and being 1-0, whether it’s one play at a time or one game at a time. If you’re on the top guy, you’re going to get some balls thrown your way.”

The Colts’ Reggie Wayne, the Raiders’ Darrius Heyward-Bey and the Ravens’ Anquan Boldin had big games against the Texans. (Joseph covered Pierre Garcon in both games against Indianapolis.) But in their past nine games, no receiver has accounted for more than 82 yards against them. That was Carolina’s Steve Smith.

The Texans have played 75 percent man coverage, according to defensive backs coach Vance Joseph. He said his top corner has been a fantastic example for the Texans' stable of young, contributing defensive backs: safeties Glover Quin, who’s been excellent as a starter converted from corner, and Troy Nolan, and corners Jackson, Brice McCain and Sherrick McManis.

“He’s practiced every day,” Vance Joseph said. “That was important for our young secondary to see. Every day he was out there working whether he was sore from the game, sore from previous injuries. He worked every day. Those guys take his lead. Every day was game mode, every ball was contested, every ball they could pick off they picked off.

“So that’s the foundation of what we’ve been here on the back end. Johnathan wants to be the best and he’s worked to be the best every day. That’s been amazing for a veteran player of his caliber to come in and practice every day.”

Houston grabbed Joseph from the Bengals with a five-year, $48.75 million contract with $23.5 guaranteed. The Texans were players for Nnamdi Asomugha, the cornerback who was viewed as a singular prize player in free agency. But Asomugha moved slowly, and the Texans feared winding up without either Asomugha or Joseph. Plus, Joseph’s price meant the team could also add Manning at safety.

They were lauded for the strategy and it panned out perfectly.

Pro Football Focus rates Joseph as just the 10th best cornerback in the league at this point. The website can’t always know coverage assignments, but it says he’s given up three touchdowns, catches against him have averaged 12.3 yards, the passer rating on throws into his coverage is 71.3 and quarterbacks have completed 57.9 percent of balls thrown against him.

Those numbers aren’t worthy of being posted in neon lights. But in the context of the Texans’ defense and the Texans’ season, his play has been excellent.

The team and a lot of NFL people agree with Joseph that, so far, things could not have turned out any better. He’s got four interceptions, 15 passes defensed, a forced fumble and rave reviews.

“On a scale of 1 to 10, I would say it’s been a 10,” Joseph said. “It’s been an awesome experience coming in here, being with the guys, adjusting to the different way things are done here. It’s been tremendous all together. There is not one bad thing I can say about the experience that I’ve had.”

Reading the coverage ...

Houston Texans

Gary Kubiak was impressed with Jake Delhomme in a tryout, and he’s now a Texans quarterback, says John McClain of the Houston Chronicle.

Glover Quin’s move to safety has been a smooth one, says Jeffrey Martin of the Chronicle. He doesn’t have an interception, but rates his play as pretty good so far.

Indianapolis Colts

Writes Phil Richards of The Indianapolis Star: “Bad football teams generate casualties, not victories, and the Indianapolis Colts produced a couple Tuesday.” Defensive coordinator Larry Coyer was fired and quarterback Curtis Painter has been benched in favor of Dan Orlovsky.

It’s change for change’s sake, and it’s about time, says Bob Kravitz of the Star.

Nate Dunlevy of 18to88.com is not convinced having both Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck on the roster would be a good thing.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Please see previous blog post.

Tennessee Titans

The Bills pick off a lot of passes and turn interceptions into points. It’s one of five things John Glennon of The Tennessean rates as a hot topic heading to Tennessee-Buffalo.

The Titans hope their relative stability compared to the rest of the division serves them well in their remaining games in the AFC South, says David Boclair of the Nashville City Paper.

In a best-case scenario, Danieal Manning will be out four weeks following surgery to repair a broken fibula. Odds are, it’s longer than that.

Gary Kubiak said the team would love to be able to wait for Manning, the veteran who was brought on board in the offseason from Chicago to settle a position that had been a big issue.

Troy Nolan (a seventh-round pick in 2009) now takes over at free safety, and depth becomes a serious issue. Dominique Barber is on IR and rookie Shiloh Keo, who just appeared in his first game, lacks speed and experience. He didn't make the cut out of camp.

“We do have a couple other options,” Kubiak told Houston press on Monday. “Torri Williams has the ability to possibly come up [from the practice squad], but right now, we really like what we see from [cornerback] Brandon Harris. He’s a smart player. We think he can go play some safety, so those are the options that we have. We’re going to see how things go this week, watch those guys work and decide where we move from there. Having a guy like Brandon up along with [Sherrick] McManis helps us in special teams too. We’ll see. We’ll see who can handle it the best, but Troy becomes a starter.

“… Harris is a bright player, understands schemes, understands what’s going on and we think [defensive coordinator] Wade Phillips and [defensive backs coach] Vance Joseph think that we can catch him up real quick. We’re going to take a look and give him an opportunity to do that and work with him over the course of this week.”

The Texans traded up to get Harris in the sixth-round, 60th overall.

Nolan was steady after stepping in for Manning in the first half Sunday. But the Texans again lack experience at safety as the other starter, Glover Quin, is in his first season as the spot after converting from cornerback.

Kubiak praised Nolan’s confidence and knack for the ball, qualities that the Texans were lacking last season, which prompted them to sign Manning and cornerback Johnathan Joseph.

BALTIMORE -- How many of these games can we watch unfold, predict how they will unravel, and already know what the players will say?

As the Baltimore Ravens ran their 4-minute offense through Ray Rice and got a touchdown to pull away from the Texans in the fourth quarter, anyone who watches the Texans on a regular basis was thinking something similar. They had to be. Or maybe some have grown numb to it by now.

It’s as difficult for the players to say the same sound bytes as it is for the fans to swallow them. Sunday’s 29-14 loss didn’t make any of it less old, less stale, less predictable or less maddening.

“We feel we are a playoff-caliber team, we deserve to be one,” receiver Kevin Walter said. “We go out there and have a hell of a week and practice, but that doesn’t matter. You’ve got to get it done on Sunday, especially against a team like this.

“Baltimore’s been there, every year. They are always in the playoffs. We did it once this year [at home] against Pittsburgh. But we’ve got to go on the road in a tough environment like this and get it done.”

Even after they didn’t, look at the AFC South. The teams are 0-7 over the last two weeks. Houston is 3-3 heading for Nashville and a matchup with the 3-2 Titans. If they don’t get receiver Andre Johnson back for that game, they should get him back a week later. Meanwhile, Jacksonville (1-5) and Indianapolis (0-6) have not won a game between them since opening day.

The Texans have two games with the Titans left on their schedule. Three other games qualify as mildly threatening: at Tampa Bay, against Atlanta and at Cincinnati. The Texans are capable of losing to anybody, of course, but the road map should be one they can navigate.

Even after ugly losses to Oakland and Baltimore over the last two weeks, even with flawed DNA that doesn’t appear repaired and even without Mario Williams it’s hard to emphatically say Houston can’t win the division and break through to the playoffs. At worst the Texans figure to slug it out with the Tennessee, a team with plenty of questions of its own.

How close are the Texans to the Ravens, a team they also lost to last season -- in overtime at Reliant Stadium?

“We’re right there,” safety Glover Quin said. “You saw the game. [With] a five-point lead in the fourth quarter, they made some plays and we didn’t. Are they better than us? No. Did they play better than us today? Yes.”

Is this a conversation we have far too often? Before DeMeco Ryans steps in, allow me to answer: yes.

Said Ryans: “We’re right there, that’s the frustrating part. We have to close the game out on our terms. I don’t know how many times I’ve said that in my career, but it’s the reality of it and it has to be done.”

Numerically, things looked just fine in several key departments. The Texans had two takeaways and protected the ball. They were better on third down. They ran for roughly the same average as the Ravens did.

But they failed to find the big plays like Torrey Smith's 51-yard catch over Kareem Jackson, Anquan Boldin's 56-yard catch over Johnathan Joseph and Rice’s 27-yard run on the final touchdown drive that put the game out of reach.

Maybe it would have been a different story if Matt Schaub had Johnson to throw to, but we’re not here to talk about hypothetical situations. And to their credit the Texans didn’t lean on his absence as an excuse.

“Sometimes it’s all too familiar, especially standing on the sidelines seeing what’s going on and knowing that you’ve been there before,” inside linebacker Brian Cushing said, a bandage on the bridge of his nose where he gashed it last week. “It’s frustrating not being able to close it out.”

All that said, confident professional athletes need to maintain faith. And working a cramped visitors locker room at M&T Bank Stadium, I didn’t hear any wavering there.

“I feel great [about our chances] because I feel it’s still early,” Cushing said. “We’ve got big one coming up next week where we can really control it and take the [division] lead like we’re supposed to …”

“I just wish we could play more consistent as a team. Maybe when we have teams where we want them, go for the kill, go for the win. So far we haven’t been able to do it. But it’s a long season. Hopefully we will be able to do that.”

Outside linebacker Connor Barwin didn’t even use the word “hopefully.”

“There is nothing symbolic about this or anything,” he said. “Today they made the plays and we didn’t. I’m very confident still that we’re going to make the plays in the games to come.”

I don’t want to say it’s a bad thing. It’s what he should say. It’s what you want to hear.

It’s hard, nevertheless, not to wonder, why exactly?

Rivers McCown of Football Outsiders says the Saints did well to take advantage of a Texans’ weak spot last week.

Here's a piece of his review:

[Wade] Phillips has primarily left [Johnathan] Joseph on the left side (offense's right side) of the line of scrimmage. While we don't have accurate coverage numbers from our game charting project just yet, the directional splits tell us that opposing offenses have completed just 47 percent of their passes against the right side on Houston, gaining just 4.1 yards per attempt.

To the middle and the left? It's not quite so rosy, as 64.8 percent of passes are being completed to those areas of the field, with opposing offenses gaining 10.5 yards per attempt. The Texans have made due with journeyman Jason Allen and former first-rounder Kareem Jackson splitting time in base sets on the left side, with safety Glover Quin moving over to cover the slot in the nickel and Troy Nolan taking Quin's normal spot next to [Danieal] Manning. All four of those are holdovers from last season, and while Quin has taken to safety fairly well, the rest of them have shown little improvement from the performances they gave as part of one of the worst pass defenses in the modern era. The more of them an offense can get on the field, the better its chances of completing a pass are.

However, there are some silver linings for the Texans' pass defense after that performance. One is that after the Saints, the only team on the Texans' schedule that can throw anywhere near the same depth of offensive weapons at them is Atlanta.

McCown’s conclusion: The Texans are better defensively, but they are not going to be good enough to stand up to a high-powered offense in the playoffs.

I tend to agree. But let’s not call the Saints’ plan a blueprint for beating Houston. You have to have the kind of people New Orleans has to beat the Texans that way. As McCown says, Atlanta may be able to follow suit. But a lot of teams simply don’t have that personnel.

NEW ORLEANS -- Up two scores with 11:20 left, the Houston Texans' defense saw Drew Brees bring his guys on the field for three nearly-flawless drives: touchdown, touchdown, touchdown.

Then, after the Texans turned it over on downs in desperation, the Saints got to kneel down.

New Orleans seemed pretty much unstoppable at the game’s biggest moments as it ran away from the Texans for a 40-33 win that was played at such a frantic pace that even mere observers were left breathless.

But don’t use the word unstoppable when talking about the Saints' offense with Houston’s defensive backs, who refused to admit defeat in such terms, leaning instead on the standard “we-didn’t-make-plays” explanation.

“They’re not unstoppable,” safety Glover Quin said, with teammates from the secondary around him joining in to scoff at the notion. “We just didn’t make the plays that we needed to make. ... It wasn’t like they’re something special.”

“They’re a good team,” cornerback Kareem Jackson more reasonably conceded. “We didn’t make the plays we needed to make and they did. That doesn’t mean they’re unstoppable. It’s football.”

With all due respect, if you don’t make the plays, and the other guys keep running into the end zone without you stopping them, and they score 40 points against you, I’m going ahead and calling them unstoppable.

The Texans’ transformed defense that could not stop the pass last season allowed New Orleans to convert 6 of 8 third downs in the second half. Brees finished with 370 passing yards and three touchdowns to go with interceptions by the Texans two new veteran defensive backs, Johnathan Joseph and Danieal Manning.

There is no great shame in losing to the Saints at the Superdome, but the Texans will carry regrets over the failure to capitalize on the numerous opportunities there were to pull away and move to 3-0.

Gary Kubiak told his team better red zone play, or better defense late, or better coverage on a couple plays and it would have been flying home happy. Instead it’s 2-1, even with the Titans atop the AFC South.

Defensive backs and linebacker made several good plays against the Saints in the first half, breaking up passes in tight coverage or making it too hard for targets to corral passes.

In the second half, there was often more space.

“We kind of backed off of them,” defensive coordinator Wade Phillips said. “I thought we wanted to play them a little tougher and a little tighter when we needed to and we didn’t when we needed to. So I think we learned from that. … Our guys played hard, but we just didn’t play well in the second half.”

It was not all on the defense, of course.

Of a possible 35 points out of trips into the red zone, the Texans settled for 19. At crunch time in the fourth quarter, they gained 1 yard in a three-and-out possession and saw Matt Schaub throw an interception to Jabari Greer to kill another.

“They're a great team, we have a lot of respect for them,” Schaub said. “We feel we’re pretty good too and we have the potential to be great too. We just have to keep climbing the ladder, look at this, understand why we didn’t get this done.”

In a season where Kubiak’s job is believed to be on the line and Peyton Manning's neck surgery has opened things up in the division, the Texans have higher expectations than ever.

But a defense revamped into a 3-4 with a Phillips-instilled swagger suffered its first relapse.

Several veteran defenders said they understood the comparison to last season even if they didn’t co-sign it. Last season’s version of the Texans had trouble finishing and many -- myself included -- have questioned whether the overall team personality and mental makeup are suited to win such games.

“When you get 40 hung on you, that’s a terrible day,” linebacker DeMeco Ryans said. “You’ve got to stop teams from scoring and we couldn’t stop them from scoring today.”

Said linebacker Brian Cushing: “I felt we should have won this game. Whether it was last year or the year before, we’ve let that happen before. But as far as what I think of this defense, I don’t think about anything compared to last year. ... We know what caliber of team we just played.”

The Texans may not face another offense as good all season. If they don’t, and they keep climbing the ladder Schaub talked about, this one may qualify as a blip.

In case it’s more than that, they have much work to do to make sure a two-score lead in the fourth quarter will stand up.

As for the potential of any doubt creeping in …

Center Chris Myers said the team’s veterans won’t allow for it.

“The veterans and leaders on this team have to be able to pick those younger guys up and have them understand we’ve got to move on to next week,” he said. “We’ll make some corrections tomorrow, but we’re onto Pittsburgh now.

“It stinks. It’s going to sting. But you’ve got to be able to go out there next week and play like we want to beat them, which we do.”