In the latest example that Giles Corey was likely the first fan of your Houston Texans, the Chronicle reports that DE Earl Cochran is done for the year, thanks to a torn ligament in his right big toe. Tip 'o the cap to Chris at Houston Diehards for first bringing this crushing development to my attention in the Comments to this post.

Even though Cochran wasn't starting opposite Super Mario (for reasons I will never understand), this is a sizable loss, if for no other reason than the fact that it guarantees more snaps for The Corpse Formerly Known As Anthony Weaver. In turn, this also means that the Houston pass rush will again be limited to the efforts of Super Mario and Tim Bulman (whenever he's fortunate enough to get onto the field).

A word of warning to Bulman: Be wary of exposing any fingers or toes in the presence of Travis Johnson and/or Anthony Weaver. Now that Cochran's out of the way, you could be next.

Owners of NFL franchises, like most other human beings, can generally be placed along a spectrum of sorts for the purpose of analyzing a specific trait. For the purpose of this exercise, let's put Jerry Jones and Al Davis at one end of the spectrum, with Robert Kraft and the late Wellington Mara at the other end of the spectrum. I'm not questioning any of the aforementioned owners', or any owner's, desire to win; every owner ultimately wants his team to win the Super Bowl. At the risk of simplifying the analysis too much, I do think, however, that there are significant differences in what path owners believe is the best way to grab that brass ring.

Some, like Jones and Davis, believe involvement in the day-to-day operations of the organization is the key. They have their fingerprints all over every facet of their franchise. They have the final say in everything, from what's served at the concession stands to who gets the start at free safety, if they so desire.

At the other end of the continuum is the owner who believes the best way to lead is by getting out of the way. Owners like Kraft are more prone to install a chain of command; they hire the folks at the very top (e.g., the general manager, coach, etc.) and let them run the show as they see fit from there. From what we've seen since Bob McNair brought professional football back to Houston, he's much closer to this model of owner than the Jerry Jones-Al Davis vintage.

With that in mind, I've recently found myself wondering if Bob McNair is too far removed/trusting/disengaged for his own good. He's made it abundantly clear that the coaching staff will not be evaluated until the end of the season. Having seen what Richard Smith has done with the defense throughout his time in Houston, this is maddening. Do you think a Jerry Jones or Al Davis would keep Richard Smith around? I don't.

So shouldn't Bob McNair step in and make a change if Kubes won't? Doesn't the situation scream for that kind of leadership?

Or would you rather have an owner who lets his football people make the football decisions? An owner who realizes that football is not his area of expertise, and that others may be more knowledgeable and thus better equipped to make those kinds of decisions?

What say you, BRB? I happen to think the latter is the type of owner I'd prefer, but that's cold comfort when your defensive coordinator can apparently do everything short of getting caught with a farm animal without fear of unemployment.

Howdy, Dawgs By Nature. It's Tim, one of your friendly neighborhood bloggers from SB Nation's site for all things Houston Texan, Battle Red Blog. As my squad is headed up to Cleveland this weekend, I figured I'd stop by to see if I could answer any questions for you.

A season that was supposed to be about gaining respectability for the NFL's newest franchise has gone completely off the tracks, so please pardon any bitterness and despair that bleed through my answers. I'm hanging on by a very thin thread. In an effort to streamline the process, here are some preemptive strikes to a few questions you might pose:

1. No, I do not expect the Texans to beat the Browns. The next time the Texans win a game on the road will be the first time since 11/04/07. That is not a joke.

2. Matt Schaub will not be playing, which means that you're assured of a game-ending interception by Sage Rosenfels in the unlikely event the Texans keep it close.

3. Brady Quinn, Braylon Edwards, and whoever else you trot out in the passing game are going to have big days. The Houston secondary gives the word "porous" a bad name.

So hit me, fans of the Pound. I'm here to field your queries in between sobbing fits.

I'd really love the opportunity to gush over your Houston Texans in a PGB. Truly, I would. It's infinitely better than having to make chicken salad out of chicken fecal matter. The Texans, however, apparently do not see fit to give their fans something to cheer about. Instead, we're treated to another week of coach-speak about "going to work," "finding ways to be effective," "playing clean," and the like. At this point, that garbage is simply nauseating muzak in the proverbial Texan fan's elevator. We've heard it too many times for it to be anything but background noise.

Be honest with us, Smithiak. Your charges have won thirty percent (30%) of their games this season. That means they're actually running behind the franchise's abysmal lifetime winning pace. That's like losing a footrace to a blind man with no legs. Your team looks to be a virtual lock to go winless on the road. The offense is capable of putting together very solid efforts that will inevitably collapse when it matters most, primarily due to quarterbacks who have an innate ability to give the opposition the ball at the absolute worst possible time. Thanks to a breathtaking combination of mind-boggling coaching decisions and a secondary that should be accompanied by a Surgeon General's Warning, the defense is a complete and utter joke. If not for Super Mario and DeMeco, the Houston defense wouldn't be good enough to stop a Division III offense. Your best defensive back and team leader is coming off a horrific injury and, while gamely trying to shake the rust off, is still another offseason away from making a tangible difference in the weakest area of your team.

In short, this is a bad football team. We know it. You know it. Let's stop the charade.

That's not to say that all is lost; there's most assuredly a healthy amount of talent on this team in addition to Mario, DeMeco, and Dunta. Andre Johnson is the best wide receiver in football. Owen Daniels is one of the best tight ends in football. Kevin Walter is a fine WR2. Steve Slaton is the kind of explosive threat at RB this team has never had. Jacoby Jones is a weapon in the return game (though hanging onto the ball is still a concern). The offensive line shows flashes of dominance and has improved throughout the season. And Jebus help him, Matt Schaub could be the answer at QB if he (1) is able to stay on the field for more than three consecutive weeks at a time and (2) realizes that the terms of his contract do not require one to two turnovers per game. The cupboard is not bare. There's plenty of work to be done and plenty of talent to be upgraded, but there's enough here to form a foundation from which success can be built.

We know Rome wasn't built in a day, and you did inherit a 2-14 mess. We know that. Yet the same old platitudes do nothing for us. They're grating. They don't show anywhere near the frustration that we're feeling. The frustration you should be feeling. Shake things up, for crying out loud. You know who's not performing. If you don't, go ahead and search BRB, DGDB&D, Houston Diehards, Stephanie Stradley, and/or any other Texans message board or fan site for the following phrases:

"Anthony Weaver"
"Travis Johnson"
"Jacques Reeves"
"Petey Faggins"

You could add Morlon Greenwood to that list, but an injury has made him a non-issue for now. I'd love nothing more than to add any Houston safety to the list as well, but I think the Wilson-Ferguson tandem may be the best option in a bad lot right now.

Play Frank Okam. Play Antwaun Molden. Play Tim Bulman. Play Earl Cochran. Play Fred Bennett (who looked like arse yesterday, but remains a youngster with promise). Keep Xavier Adibi out there, even if Greenwood gets healthy. None of those guys may prove to be the answer at their respective positions. Maybe one of them will, though. Maybe two. Maybe all of them. Try 'em and see. You are a 3-7 football team. Find out which areas need to be targeted with the greatest intensity in the draft (and to a lesser extent, free agency). You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Do it.

Limited chestnuts from the latest loss to Peyton Manning & Co.:

1. See what happens when Steve Slaton gets the ball? As good as he was (and he was awesome), kudos to the OL for run-blocking at the highest level we've seen all year. They were dynamite.

2. Special props to Ahman Green. That second TD was due to a tremendous second effort. I fully expected him to tear an ACL celebrating.

3. If Duane Brown can't figure out how to stop speed rushers off the end, we are in deep trouble. Alex Gibbs, you're our only hope.

4. I get that the plan was to keep Peyton Manning off the field by running the ball. That's a good plan. But something's still wrong when Owen Daniels only has one catch and Andre Johnson only has five (5); I don't think the latter even got a pass thrown his way in the second or third quarters. You have to figure out a way to get the ball into the hands of your playmakers.

5. As echoed by Matt here, there wasn't a single Texans fan whose surname is not "Rosenfels" who did not call that game-ending interception well before it happened. I couldn't even muster any anger about it. Just bleak resignation. Crippler of my soul, thy name is Sage.

6. Super Mario didn't register a sack, but he was thisfreakingclose to sacking Peyton on at least a half-dozen plays that I saw. Yes, Peyton Manning is that good, though you have to give Richard Smith credit for totally disregarding a blatant mismatch.

7. It's 10:17 p.m., and Richard Smith is still gainfully employed as the defensive coordinator of your Houston Texans. What he did in a previous life to deserve this kind of invincibility, I'll never know.

8. The secondary still drains me of my will to live. Nothing new there.

9. What is new, however, is The X-Factor. I've made no bones about the man-crush I have on Adibi; I feel like a proud father right now. Or I would. If I had kids, and one of them was Xavier Adibi. I'm getting light-headed.

10. Another Texans loss, another case of questionable timeout management by the coaching staff. Really would've been nice to have one or two extra timeouts on that last drive, huh? Especially when one of them was burned due to having thirteen (13!) players on the field and therefore avoidable under every circumstance? Oh, Richard Smith...you are evil. What dark force injected you into this earthly plane?

11. Fake Game Balls: Offense--Steve Slaton; Defense--Xavier Adibi; Special Teams--Kris Brown.

Your Houston Texans travel to the Dawg Pound on Sunday. Yup, it's a road game. Yup, we're dead in the water.

If you are the least bit surprised by this, included but not limited to how this game ended, I submit that you are not a fan of the Houston Texans.

If you've got even an ounce of outrage, vent below. I expect that to be the exception, though. If 95% of the Comments aren't along the lines of "I knew it," I'll eat my hat.

For anyone who isn't yet feeling the effects of your Chlorox cocktails, let's keep the praise (or far more likely, the hate) going in Part Deux of the BRB Game Day Extravaganza via the Comments below. Antifreeze sold separately.

Is there a Texans fan alive who actually thinks our beloved squad is going to come out of Indianapolis with a win today? I think the ever-dwindling Houston fan base has reverted to our natural condition of dreadful anticipation for the next kick to the stomach. And that's not even counting what happened the last time our team met the Colts.

It's barely past 10 a.m. and I already need a drink.

As always, leave your pre-game, in-game, and post-game pondering and invectives in the Comments below. The second-half thread will post to the main page at 1:30 p.m. CST, so move the party there at halftime. GO TEXANS!

Pain. That's what I'm predicting. Pain for those of us who simply can't quit the Texans and are going to tune in this afternoon. We're junkies. We know better, but we crave a fix that we know is going to leave us with our knees clenched to our chests, rocking back and forth, and mumbling that it's not fair that bad things happen to good people. Consider the above a "bonus prediction." Three (3) more things to look for:

1. A return to 100+ receiving yards from one Andre Johnson. He torched the Colts for 131 yards last time, and I believe he'll be good for 115 and a TD today.

2. Super Mario brings Peyton Manning down for his ninth sack of the season. Not bold enough for you? Fair enough...I'll raise my game accordingly and call the fourth sack of the year for Tim Bulman.

3. Of all the speed rushers he's encountered, Duane Brown has done the best job against Dwight Freeney. Freeney picked up a sack against D. Brown last time, but Brown did a pretty good job neutralizing Freeney in their initial meeting. Today, I fear that Freeney's going to be much more disruptive than he was back in October. Dwight Freeney picks up two (2) sacks, one of which will result in a fumble by Sage Rosenfels that will be returned for a TD by Gary Brackett. Again. At that moment of déjà vu, I will scream at the heavens and spontaneously combust.

PUT YOUR NAME ON IT: I said it here, so no surprise that I'm calling for the Colts to beat your Houston Texans today. I do think the offense will put some points on the board, and I think the defense will have moments of competence to break up the monotony of abomination. It won't be enough to make us forget that the Texans are incapable of winning on the road and/or sending me to bed tonight without a tear-soaked visage. Texans 21, Colts 31.

Howdy from Houston, denizens of the blue Horseshoe. It's Tim from Battle Red Blog. Although I still haven't recovered from the last Indy-Houston tussle, I'm here to field any questions you might have about Sunday's game. I'm beating you to the punch on this: Yes, Sage Rosenfels will be under center for the Texans on Sunday. So Dungy & Co. have that going for them, which is simultaneously nice for you and makes me want to go bottoms up on a jug of Chlorox.

So hit me, followers of Manning the Elder. I'm here to answer your queries. I can assure you that uncontrollable weeping accompanying each answer is totally involuntary.

No real surprise that (1) Bob McNair's frustrated and (2) no staff evaluations (read: firings) are going to take place until the season is complete. I've said repeatedly that I'm not a member of the "Fire Kubes!" mob; he's an offensive-minded coach who has made the offense infinitely better since he arrived. Bias aside, the Houston offense would be damn near unstoppable if its QBs could hang onto the ball and/or avoid throwing into double coverage. Consequently, I think Kubes should return for a fourth year unless the players begin tuning him out. At this point, it appears the players are still firmly in Kubes' corner, so I believe McNair should bring Kubes back next year. Kubiak still has plenty of room for improvement in areas that we've documented at length, but I think he's done enough to warrant one more year to work through those issues.

Unless, of course, Kubes insists on bringing Richard Smith back. Should that happen, Kubes becomes a big part of the largest problem on this squad, and McNair would have no choice but to call any bluff along the lines of "If he goes, I go." Judging from some of the things both Kubes and the players have said, however, I don't see that happening. I think Kubes understands that Smith has to go, and he's not going to take a bullet for a defensive coordinator whose decisions and use of personnel surpassed indefensible months ago.

Anyone have any thoughts on the matter? I can't imagine anyone believes Richard Smith should be brought back in 2009. If you're a fervent anti-Kubes guy or gal, let us know why in the Comments below. And feel free to tell us who you want to see as the new defensive coordinator of your Houston Texans next year.