New year, same old problem for the Houston Texans — no reliable running back. It's the third season they've been in this situation, and it doesn't take a football genius to know that a healthy (and talented) back is necessary for NFL success. The Texans don't have that and until they do they'll never be the franchise they hope to be.
Ahman Green's ankle is being evaluated after a whopping five carries on Sunday. This performance comes after the Texans threw all sorts of money at him last year to miss 10 games and finish with less than 300 yards for the season.
He followed that impressive performance by declaring himself healthy and ready to go until the first game when he injured a groin in his opening carry of the preseason. He didn't see game action until Sunday.
It is irresponsible of a team to put the hopes of its entire running game in the legs of a 31-year-old who has missed 23 games since 2005 with various injuries. The Texans should have moved on from this experiment after Green's "knee bruise" lingered all season and rendered him useless.
Instead they chose to leave him as their starter and add Chris Brown — another injury-prone and aging back — as his backup. Brown didn't even make it through the first week of training camp before he was felled by a back injury and has subsequently been placed on season-ending injured reserve.
It's unclear how serious Green's ankle injury is. If history holds, though, he won't make a significant contribution anytime soon.
This leaves the Texans with rookie Steve Slaton and Chris Taylor, who they'd prefer to play at fullback, but who didn't get anywhere near the ball on Sunday. Slaton is fast and talented but his size and running style make it unlikely he could be an every down back in the NFL.
He didn't do much in his professional debut Sunday, finishing with 13 carries for 43 yards. Houston's 75 yards rushing on Sunday rank 26th in the NFL.
The Texans running game is such a mess that Houston's passing game couldn't move the ball in the awful 38-17 season-opening loss to Pittsburgh. Quarterback Matt Schaub was sacked five times, fumbled once and threw two interceptions.
It's easy to harass a quarterback when it's obvious a team can't run. Schaub is a solid quarterback and he's surrounded by talent with star Andre Johnson, Kevin Walter and Andre' Davis. Yet he looked horrible Sunday because Pittsburgh wasn't at all concerned about the run.
The Texans planned to work out running backs Tuesday, but have denied they are interested in several unemployed backs who have been successful in the NFL.
Their best solution to the problem at this point? Elevating Darius Walker from the practice squad. Remember Walker? He's the former Notre Dame standout who left college early to go undrafted. Houston signed him as a free agent and has released him twice since.
If the Texans hope to attain their goal of finally reaching the playoffs this year, they might want to figure out a new plan.
Or else they're in for another long season.
And I missed Green's projected placement on IR scheduled for October.
