By KRISTIE RIEKEN
AP Sports Writer
HOUSTON(AP) -- The Houston Texans have won three straight and have
their best record in franchise history at 5-3.
The season is half over and they remain firmly in the playoff
hunt. But the road gets tougher as they face undefeated AFC
South rival Indianapolis, a team they've beaten only once. Ever.
"Every game is going to get bigger and bigger every week," said
Andre Johnson, in his seventh season in Houston. "We have the
Colts on the road and that is going to be the biggest game of
our life."
Coach Gary Kubiak wouldn't go as far as Johnson did, but didn't
downplay the importance of Sunday's game either.
"When you get to where your football team is pretty good,
they're all big," he said. "It's just nice that we're to the
point now where we should play in some big football games here
in the second half and none bigger than the first one."
Houston has never won four consecutive games in a season and is
1-13 against the Colts, with the victory coming on a last-second
field goal in 2006.
The Texans know Sunday's game will be a challenge as the Colts
look to extend their franchise-record streak of 16 straight
regular-season wins.
"We're looking forward to it," Kubiak said. "We've got some
confidence right now and we're going to have to dig deep because
we've got some issues with our team from an injury standpoint,
but I think our guys have learned to try to work through those
things to be successful."
The Texans hope to keep their high-powered offense rolling
without tight end Owen Daniels, who is out for the season with a
knee injury. Peyton Manning and the Colts lead the league with
316.3 yards passing a game, but Matt Schaub and the Texans
aren't far behind in third with 281.5.
Schaub is having his best season, but threw two interceptions
before settling down to help Houston to a 31-10 win over the
Bills on Sunday. Schaub's turnovers aren't Houston's biggest
problem though with Steve Slaton tied for the NFL lead with five
lost fumbles this season. His latest fumble, after a reception
in the first quarter Sunday, got him benched in favor of Ryan
Moats.
"The turnover issues still bother the heck out of me," Kubiak
said. "We've still not improved offensively from that standpoint
and we're not going to get away with that ... that is a big
concern for me."
It's such a concern for Kubiak it has created a running back
controversy. Moats ran for a career-high 126 yards and three
touchdowns against the Bills to put Slaton's status as starter
in jeopardy. Houston's other running back is Chris Brown.
Kubiak wouldn't say who will start against the Colts.
"I'm going to play them all," Kubiak said. "I'm in no hurry to
make that decision but obviously we're going to need all three
of them. We'll go to practice, we'll work them all and make a
decision when we get to Indianapolis."
NOTES: Houston TE James Casey had arthroscopic knee surgery on
Monday and should return Nov. 23. ... Dominique Barber has an
ankle injury and is listed day to day. ... LB Xavier Adibi has
an ankle injury that Kubiak said they should know more about
later this week. ... DT DelJuan Robinson has a sprained MCL and
is listed day to day.
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