There's a new leader in the clubhouse!

The Chronicle's report is here.  McKinney had been playing extremely well thus far, so this certainly hurts, but having Mike Flanagan behind him on the depth chart should help ease that pain, at least a little bit.  You certainly have to feel for Steve, who is quoted in the article as saying, "This is the worst possible thing that could happen.  Right when we've turned this thing around and we're starting to win, this happens. I can't tell you how bad this makes me feel."  For guys like McKinney (and Chester Pitts) who have been part of the most-maligned portion of a laughingstock franchise for years, but one that is now turning the corner to respectability and possibly even a playoff run, you know that they must be enjoying this early run of success even more than the newer Texans.  It's too bad Steve will not be able to help out on the field from here on out.  And if you are not sure how tough McKinney is, read the article.  He played on at least a partially torn ACL trying to help the Texans rally late in the fourth quarter.

There's no question in the mind of any non-comatose Texans' fan that Matt Schaub's QB play has been significantly better than David Carr's QB play was.  Unfortunately, many of Schaub's positive traits seem to be either of the intangible variety or easy to discern but difficult to translate to others, such that often we as Texans' fans are left simply explaining to others that, "All I know is that Schuab just has IT and Carr did not".  What is that "IT"?  I think KC Joyner over at ESPN Insider has quantified it and deserves a Nobel Prize, or at least an ESPY, for his fine work.

Note that a subscription is required to view Joyner's analysis in full, but here are some summary points that KC makes:

1. Joyner has broken down the depth of the passes thrown in Carr's first two games last season and Schaub's first two games this season and discovered the following:

• "Schaub has a higher yards-per-attempt average at both the short and medium depth levels. Carr has a higher YPA average at the deep and bomb levels, but Schaub has thrown twice as many of those passes and is threatening defenses vertically in a way Carr never did."   Carr averaged about 6 YPA on his short attempts, while while Schaub averages 7.5, and Carr averaged 13 YPA on his medium attempts, while Schaub averages 16.6.  
• We all know far to well how DC reacted under pressure - much like the French in the WWII Battle of France.  According to Joyner, Schaub thrives under pressure, which is something that we at BRB have certainly observed and appreciated intensely, but KC broke it down by numbers for the benefit of all of us.  Against the blitz, Schaub is 12-17 for 196 yards and 2 TD, while taking only two sacks.  Joyner also submits that a QB who averages 9 yards per attempt against the blitz will typically lead the league.  Schaub's YPA against the blitz thus far: 11.5.

All right boys and girls, no more Turk v. Stanley talk and no more wondering who the Big 53 are going to be.  It's Go Time at Reliant Stadium this afternoon, and here's the thread for your enjoyment before, during and after today's game.  

PREDICTION: Texans 23, Chiefs 16

Battle Red Blog is proudly a community of Texans' fans with a unique (read: disturbed) perspective on life.  Need an example?  Our reaction to this story being reported by the Chronicle.

Texans' CB Dunta Robinson may have been the direct victim in an invasion/robbery at his home in Sienna Plantation.  Sounds scary, right?  Probably was.  But since the article thankfully contains no indication that either Dunta or his family and friends were injured, we feel that it is our duty at BRB to delve deeper into this story on a pair of important fronts.

One: When in God's name will David Carr stop haunting the Texans and their fans?  For years, Fresno's Fanciest taunted the citizens of Houston and Fort Bend County by serving as the face of the "gated" Sienna Plantation on billboards and advertisements plastered throughout the city, which was somewhat intriguing considering that his family's estate was in Sweetwater, not Sienna Plantation.  Apparently the deparature of Hair from our fair city has led to the demise of this once pristine, tight-knit community, just the latest in a long line of ways that Fancy Pants scarred our great city for years to come.  

Two:  A situation such as this involving a member of the Texans' much-maligned secondary reeks of ironic comedy.  Such as, "The robbers were cornered by Robinson in his home until one of them gave Robinson a quick double-move to the inside and blazed past him on a post pattern out the front door, never to be seen again", "BRB has yet to obtain confirmation to the rumor that Seth Wand was working as a security officer at the front gate of Sienna Plantation at the time of the incident and was left standing flat in his tracks by the robbers, who ran a stunt move that left Seth helplessly praying that Domanick Williams could save the residents of Sienna by chipping at the invaders' kneecaps" or "C.C. Brown was a dinner guest at Robinson's house at the time and was supposed to be serving as backup by the front door while Robinson kept the suspects cornered in the basement, but when one of the obese, limping robbers slipped past Robinson using a headfake move, Brown was snacking on a Moon Pie on Robinson's leather couch, allowing the perpetrator to get behind Brown and out the front door to freedom".

We think our readers may have an idea or two on this story.  Spin it your way in the comments section below.

Nice piece in today's Washington Post by Les Carpenter about The Schaub.  Not much breaking news in there, though Schaub does go into detail about the lessons that he's learned backing up Mike Vick.  Carpenter could not have been more right when he wrote:

John McClain has a nice preview of the game within the game tonight in Tampa, and no, I'm not talking about Bucs QB Bruce Gradkowski.  I'm talking about positional battles that will be decided tonight.  For the record, The General's taking McKinney at center, Danny the Assassin at LB, Tr. Johnson at DT and The Turk at Punter.  Given Kubes' blunt emphasis on special teams' contributions from his backups, I'm going to make a darkhorse prediction and change my previous predictions - look for David Anderson to make the squad at WR, with Apostrophe Davis being the sixth WR, if one is kept.  Also, Jared Z is going to play three quarters plus tonight at QB.

Drew  Henson has been asked to leave Vikings' training camp.  Makes the old sage C. Casserly look all the wiser, eh?

In a shocker...Patrick Pass.  In other news, Charles Spencer was placed on the PUP list, rendering him ineligible to play for the first six weeks of the regular season.  This is really a non-story, since there seemed to be zero chance that The Big Nasty would be game ready during the first part of the season.  

With Patrick Pass out of the picture, one must assume that either Abbate or Cook makes the team to back up Vonta Leach, although, another possibility would be that one of the four tailbacks (Sam Gado?) could fill in behind Leach as needed.  

Here's my best guess:

QB:
Schaub
Rosenfels

FB:
Leach
Pass

RB:
Dayne
Gado
Green
Lundy

TE:
Bruener
Daniels
Putzier

WR:
Davis
A. Johnson
J. Jones
Mathis
Walter

OL:
Studdard
Weary
Pitts
Flanagan
Hodgdon
McKinney
Black
Salaam
Winston

DL:
Babin
Kalu
Weaver
Williams
Tr. Johnson
Maddox
Okoye
Zgonina

LB:
Anderson
Barber
Clark
Diles
Greenwood
Orr
Ryans

DB:
Bennett
Faggins
Fletcher
McCleon
Robinson
Hutchins
Wynn
Brown
Harrison
Simmons

K: Brown

P: Turk

LS: Pittman

OK - There's my Week One roster, barring injuries.  Where am I wrong, BRB?  Notable cuts, under my scenario, include Ty Poole, Jameel Cook, Chad Stanley, Jared Zabransky, Bethel Johnson and Keenan McCardell.