Raiders, Texans hope for better things

OAKLAND -- Coach Gary Kubiak admits he has never been part of a game quite like the one his Houston Texans played when they came to Oakland a year ago.

Despite failing to complete a pass in the second half and finishing with minus-5 yards passing, the Texans somehow managed to beat the Raiders, 23-14, in a game that reached new lows in ugliness.

“It’s as strange as I’ve ever been around,” Kubiak said. “It was not very pretty. We struggled to throw the football, and they rush the passer extremely well, so it didn’t make a lot of sense for us to hurt ourselves any more.”

It’s unlikely the Texans (3-5) could win again when the teams meet today with such a putrid passing attack considering that only four other teams have won games with negative yards passing since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970.

Houston became the first team in 25 years to win with such a stat as David Carr was seven for 14 for 32 yards and was sacked five times for 37 yards. It was that kind of performance that led to the decision to cut ties with the team’s first draft pick ever and acquire Matt Schaub from Atlanta in the off-season.

With Schaub at the helm, the Texans won their first two games. But they have dropped five of six since and Schaub will miss today’s game against Oakland (2-5) after suffering a concussion from a helmet-to-helmet hit last week against San Diego.