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Injury-riddled Texans to square off with slumping Raiders

Nov 4, 2007 - 11:54 AM Houston (3-5) at Oakland (2-5) Sunday 4:15 pm EDT

OAKLAND, California (Ticker) - What once appeared to be a promising season is unraveling for the Houston Texans.

Reeling from a three-game losing streak, the Texans face another struggling team in the Oakland Raiders on Sunday.

Injuries to key offensive players and a crumbling defense have been the culprits to the recent spiral for Houston, which has allowed 110 points in its recent skid.

Even more disturbing for the Texans is the fact that they have fallen behind by at least three touchdowns in the three losses, and only a furious fourth-quarter comeback from a 32-7 deficit made it a close defeat against Tennessee on October 21.

In last week's 35-10 loss at San Diego, the Chargers bolted to a 14-0 first-quarter lead and 35-3 cushion at the half, getting touchdowns on a fumble recovery and interception return.

"It's about as bad as it can be," Houston coach Gary Kubiak said. "We look like a tired, slow football team out there right now. The mistakes that we're making on a week-to-week basis, they're just unacceptable."

Houston quarterback Matt Schaub has been knocked out of past two games with injuries, including a helmet-to-helmet blow by San Diego linebacker Stephen Cooper last week.

Schaub still was suffering from headaches Monday and was listed as day-to-day by Kubiak.

Wide receiver Andre Johnson has sat out six straight games with a knee injury and running back Ahman Green was a late scratch against the Chargers due to an ailing knee.

Oakland also is mired in a three-game losing streak, although it has suffered back-to-back narrow road defeats at Tennessee (13-9) and Kansas City (12-10).

After accounting for five touchdowns in a 35-17 victory over the Miami Dolphins on September 30, Daunte Culpepper has not proven to be the answer at quarterback, helping the offense generate just 33 points points in the last three games.

Culpepper was a mere 15-of-32 for 167 yards and an interception in last weekend's loss to the Titans, and he could be back on the bench if Josh McCown gets healthy or the Raiders decide to see what they have in No. 1 overall pick JaMarcus Russell.

The running game isn't helping much. LaMont Jordan has gained a meager 87 yards on 41 carries in his past three games and managed just 16 yards in 12 rushes vs. Tennessee.

One of the few bright spots has been kicker Sebastian Janikowski, who last week set the franchise record for made field goals and has booted eight in a row after starting the season missing four of his first five.