Texans, Schaub need road work

Posted by ESPN.com's Paul Kuharsky The Texans have been a pretty good home team for a while now.

On the road they've been something else entirely - 0-3 this year, 2-6 last year, 12-39 all-time.

To extend the team's first three-game winning streak to a four-game winning streak and to pull even at 4-4 halfway through the season, the Texans need to win at the Metrodome. While the elements aren't a factor, it's hardly the friendliest road venue.

As is often the case around the league, a team and its quarterback share a problem. Matt Schaub is 1-9 in games he's started on the road, and his teams have lost those games by an average of nearly 10 points.

"You can't blame all of the road on him," coach Gary Kubiak said today when asked by Houston reporters about Schaub's road woes. "We haven't been very good on the road. We're all going to have to play better to improve Matt's record on the road. It's tough in this league. That's as tough as it gets. You've got to go out and function in a hostile environment and none more hostile than this. I don't know how many of you all have been there, but I've been to this place many times, a very tough place to play, very loud and they're dang good, too. So, we've got our work cut out for us. We'll work with noise all week."

Schaub agreed with the idea that the Texans have to validate the work they've done in a month of home games, set up by the alteration to their schedule because of Hurricane Ike, by winning in a tougher environment.

"So, if we take care of business at home and then can go on the road and get a few, especially against a good team in a tough environment like the Vikings, that will just put a stamp on what we've been able to do this past month after our slow start with our first four games," he said. "Just cap off a good second quarter of the season."

After Minnesota, the Texans remaining road schedule includes trips to Indianapolis, Cleveland, Green Bay and Oakland.



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