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Seahawks-Texans Preview

Dec 10, 2009 - 6:35 AM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

The Houston Texans came into this season with hopes of reaching the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. The Seattle Seahawks were trying to return following a woeful campaign.

Both teams, however, are all but out of postseason contention heading into their matchup this week in Houston and have shifted their focus.

The Texans will attempt to snap a four-game slide Sunday, while the Seahawks are hoping to move a step closer to another winning season.

Entering this year, Houston seemed to have its best chance to reach the playoffs for the first time in its eight seasons of existence. Second-year running back Steve Slaton was trying to build off a surprising 1,282-yard rookie campaign, and quarterback Matt Schaub was coming off his best season.

The team also had one of the NFL's best receivers in Andre Johnson, and emerging stars on defense in Mario Williams, DeMeco Ryans and top draft pick Brian Cushing.

After alternating losses and wins in their first five games, the Texans seemed to give their playoffs hopes a large boost with three straight wins from Oct. 18-Nov. 1, but four straight losses have followed.

Instead of playoff matchups, the talk for Houston (5-7) has turned to whether coach Gary Kubiak will keep his job after going 22-26 in his three previous seasons. Kubiak's team is currently two games behind Jacksonville for the AFC's final berth and trails four other teams in the conference's playoff hunt.

The Texans, however, can still clinch their first winning season in franchise history by winning out.

"We need something good to happen to us," Kubiak said. "Nobody's feeling very good right now ... you've got to play back the confidence, you've got to go out and make the plays to get your confidence back as a football team and we're going to do that."

Not helping that confidence is the loss of Slaton, who has struggled through a disappointing season but still has a team-best 437 yards. The running back was placed on injured reserve Wednesday because of a nerve issue in his neck and is done for the season.

Houston will look again to Chris Brown and Ryan Moats to help revive a running game that's tied for 29th in the NFL with 88.7 yards per game. Johnson and Schaub, who has a career-best 3,449 yards and 22 TDs, have helped the Texans become the league's fourth-best passing offense (278.9 ypg).

Houston's defense, however, has struggled to keep opponents off the scoreboard, giving up an average of 22.2 points. The Texans have allowed at least 20 in each game of their skid, including last week's 23-18 loss at Jacksonville.

The Jaguars scored 17 straight points to open the game and Houston didn't get within a touchdown until 4:01 remaining. Schaub's dislocated his non-throwing shoulder on the team's first offensive play, and the Texans had three passers throw an interception, including Brown.

After returning in the second quarter, Schaub is expected to play again this week.

Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck's sore throwing shoulder hasn't helped in his team's attempt to bounce back from last season's 4-12 finish, but the lack of a complementary running game has hurt more.

In their first season under Jim Mora Jr., the Seahawks are also near the bottom with 93.4 rushing yards per game, but they've shown signs of improvement on defense in their first back-to-back wins this season.

After giving up an average of 30.2 points during a five-game stretch, Seattle (5-7) has allowed 17 points in consecutive weeks, including last week's 20-17 victory over visiting San Francisco.

Keeping the 49ers out of the end zone in the second half helped set up Olindo Mare's game-winning kick from 30 yards as time expired.

The win kept alive the team's hopes for its sixth winning season in seven years. The Seahawks are technically alive for a postseason berth, but are three games behind Philadelphia and Green Bay. They also have two other teams in front of them and are among a group of four 5-7 clubs in the NFC.

A loss and wins from the Eagles and Packers would officially eliminate Seattle.

"It would be easy to look at all the mistakes we've made, and look at the big mountain we have to climb to accomplish it, and get discouraged," Hasselbeck said. "So we just have to stay focused."

The teams have never played in Houston, and the Seahawks won the only other meeting, 42-10 on Oct. 16, 2005.