“We have enough talent to beat the teams we’re supposed to beat. The fans should be upset if we don’t perform well. We certainly will be.”

That was David Carr speaking in the pre-season about his club’s 2005/2006 playoff hopes. The Texans, who were 7-9 last year, are off to an 0-5 start. Last fall they swept Jacksonville and Tennessee. This year they’ve scored 54 points in 5 tilts, including a 34-20 loss to a 2-4 Titans team in Houston.

Last night they were absolutely routed by a Seahawks team that seemed able to score at will. And, really, let’s not kid ourselves: the ‘Hawks could easily have put up 50+. Shaun Alexander was running over undersized Texan defenders like they were high-school practice squad players. The Texans had absolutely nothing in terms of a pass rush, defensive front, or line-backer presence. Based on this year’s performance I’d say there are probably only 4-5 defensive players on this team who should even be on an NFL roster.

Their front 3 were supposed to be capable. Sports Illustrated wrote, in their annual NFL preview: “Defensively, I like their front three, plus first-round draft pick Travis Johnson. They’re big, strong 3-4 linemen, and I think they’ll cover the loss of inside linebacker by moving Kailee Wong and Morlon Greenwood inside.”

That big, strong D line has allowed an average of 159 rushing yards/game. That’s second worst in the NFL. But the alphabet soup of bad line play doesn’t end on the defensive side of the ball. The Texans O-line could very well be the worst in the history of the NFL. David Carr is a great player. But you wouldn’t know that based on his stats. The Texans are averaging a league-worst 103 passing yards/game. That’s beyond terrible, extending into a dimension of bad that we’ll probably never see topped.

Carr has been sacked 30 times in 5 games. Peyton Manning has been sacked once over the same duration.

Things aren’t going to get any better for this team. They need 4 new starters on the O-line, 3 new starters on the D-line, 2 linebackers, and a #2 receiver. What they really have right now is 1/3 of a team. They’re going to have a Top-5 pick in this year’s draft, and they’ll be able to address some of their holes. But this season is a write-off. As bad as their O-line starters have been they’re now looking to backups to fill voids left by injuries.

Their draft picks haven’t been so bad. 2004 1st round pick Dunta Robinson is a developing player. Carr could be a franchise QB on a better team. They just don’t seem to have many talented players.

The Texans are going to keep getting creamed when they play teams with good pass rushes. There’s no way they can give Carr enough time to make his throws and everyone knows about Andre Johnson’s WR screens. They play Indy next week in Houston. They should lose 45-3 if they’re lucky. Dwight Freeney should have 3-4 sacks. In other words, it’s the status quo for the Texans.