Don Pierson

Let’s hear it for the unbelievable 2-0 Houston Texans because 3-0 will be pretty close to impossible. The door prize for the best start in the team’s history is more like a booby prize—playing the 2-0 Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts.

At least the game is in Houston, where the Texans upset the Colts last December. Matter of fact, they were the last team to beat the Colts. It is the only time in 10 meetings the Texans have won, so they know it can be done. But to make their chances more remote, the Texans will be lining up without their best player, wide receiver Andre Johnson, who is doubtful with a knee injury.

This gives the Texans about the same chance as the Colts would have without Peyton Manning.

But enough of the bad news. Let’s celebrate the 2-0 Texans while we can. They share their unexpected perfection with the similarly surprising Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers. Whenever you have a chance to use words like “undefeated” and Texans or Lions in the same sentence, you have to do it, even though it’s only Week Three.

Don’t look now, but the Texans actually have won four games in a row. In Houston, this suggests a budding dynasty.

Not that long ago, Texan success had to be measured in less than victories. It was cause for celebration when the quarterback didn’t get sacked.

That’s the single biggest difference between the Texans of old and the Texans of the last two weeks. New quarterback Matt Schaub is getting rid of the ball, not holding it like former quarterback David Carr, inviting disaster and usually finding it. The offensive line that has given up two sacks in two games is the same offensive line that played most of last season, when it gave up 43 sacks with Carr under center.

Last week, Carr watched from the Carolina sideline as Schaub went without a sack against a Panthers’ defensive line heralded as one of the best in the league. Down 14-0 early, the Texans reeled off 34 straight points on the road. They had never scored more than 31 in their first five years in existence.

Forgive Texan fans for getting prematurely excited. Forgive coach Gary Kubiak, too.

Kubiak said after the game about Schaub: “This kid is a good player now; he has a chance to be a great one.”

After only four starts as a pro, including two losses in Atlanta, that’s high praise, and probably premature as well.

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But Schaub is quickly justifying the most important decision in the Texans’ history. The gamble to trade Carr came a year after the Texans passed up hometown hero Vince Young, not to mention Reggie Bush, in the 2006 draft. It came in Kubiak’s second season, a year after he made the mistake of giving Carr one last shot.

Carr was likeable, willing, strong, durable, mobile and relatively clueless in the pocket. Like all successful quarterbacks, Schaub seems to have that sixth sense that turns potential into production. In just two games, Schaub has elevated the trust and confidence of the entire team, offense and defense.

In Carr’s five years at the controls, he was sacked 76, 36, 49, 68 and 43 times. Usually, the offensive line got blamed and often it was indeed the fault of the offensive line. But any offensive lineman will tell you that the first defense against sacks is a quarterback who knows how to get rid of the ball. There is no better example than Manning, who will come into Houston Sunday. Manning gets sacked about 20 times a year. A little over one sack a game is not bad for a quarterback who passes about 35 times a game.

Without Johnson, however, Schaub will be getting rid of the ball to strangers. Johnson ranked fourth in the league with 14 catches for 262 yards. He caught seven passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns against Carolina before spraining the posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. The team’s chances to stay competitive will be directly related to how many games he misses.

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Houston’s second-leading wide receiver is rookie Jacoby Jones from Lane College. He has only two catches for 33 yards. Their third leading receiver is ex-Cincinnati backup Kevin Walter, who has two catches for 17 yards.

The Texans are the most anonymous team in the league. Only the most rabid football fans outside of Houston could name more than two defensive starters. The leading tackler last week was Von Hutchins, a former cornerback who now plays safety and didn’t start a game last season. Hutchins is a castoff of the Colts who will be eager to re-introduce himself Sunday.

There were three former No. 1 draft choices on the defensive line, but one of them, Travis Johnson, is hurt again after only one game. The other two are busy making names for themselves. After a season of unrealistic expectations and a nagging foot injury, end Mario Williams shook off doubts in the season opener against Kansas City with two sacks, five tackles, one fumble recovery, one touchdown, and three passes defensed. It was the kind of performance that will help fans forget about Vince Young and Reggie Bush.

Last week, it was this year’s No. 1 pick, tackle Amobi Okoye, who came through with two sacks, outperforming the more famous Panthers. Okoye just turned 20 in June and represents the future of a franchise that remains young in its sixth season.

Besides Schaub, the Texans are getting production from castoff running backs Ahman Green and Ron Dayne. Green was deemed over the hill in Green Bay. Dayne never got up the hill as a former Heisman Trophy winner and top draft pick of the New York Giants. Together, they are giving the Texans a solid alternative to Schaub’s passing. If the Texans are to have a chance against the Colts Sunday and against anybody in Johnson’s absence, a lot will depend on Green and Dayne.

It’s way too early to predict a winning season. It’s still premature to suggest that the marriage of Kubiak and Schaub will enjoy an extended honeymoon.

On the other hand, it’s OK for Texan fans to go a little wild, at least until Sunday afternoon. By Sunday night, they could come back to earth, or be completely out of their minds. Either way, it looks like Schaub and his new teammates will be looking forward to next week’s homecoming trip to Atlanta, where forlorn Falcon fans will likely greet him with jealous and open arms.