Houston Texans
Most of the speculation in Houston following the 2006 season involved David Carr and his future with the Texans. On March 21, reports surfaced that backup Atlanta Falcons QB Matt Schaub would be traded to the Texans. The Texans and Falcons swapped first round picks and the Texans gave Atlanta their second round pick in 2007 and 2008. [1] Upon his introduction in Houston on March 22, Schaub was announced as the starting quarterback in 2007. Despite reports that the Texans were attempting to trade David Carr, he was released the following day. On April 6, 2007 David Carr joined the Carolina Panthers as the backup quarterback for Jake Delhomme. Carr would eventually become the starter after an injury to Delhomme ended his season, only to be injured himself and replaced by 44 year old Vinny Testaverde. Carr would have his chances to win the starting role back after an injury sidelined Testaverde, but would eventually be replaced again, this time due to poor play. Carr was 1-4 in 2007 as a starter and finished the season as the Panther’s third string quarterback behind Testaverde and undrafted rookie Matt Moore. James Black, NFL Editor for Yahoo! Sports, wrote that “Tim Couch might be the one person preventing us from deeming David Carr as the worst overall No. 1 draft choice among quarterbacks since the AFL/NFL merger in 1970.”
For Matt Schaub and the Houston Texans, the 2007 season started on a high note. They extended their franchise record two-game winning streak from the end of 2006 to four with victories at home against the Chiefs and on the road in Carolina. After the 2-0 start, however, the Texans would be plagued with injuries (leading the league with players on Injured Reserve) and turnovers (finishing with a -13 turnover ratio). Andre Johnson missed seven games, Matt Schaub missed five and was knocked out of two others, Dunta Robinson was lost for the season after a leg injury in a Week 9 game against Oakland, starting Center Steve McKinney suffered a season-ending injury in the third game of the season, and Ahman Green, who was signed in the offseason to a large contract, rushed for only 260 yards, missed several games and finished the season on IR. Despite all of this, the Texans would have their one of their best seasons in franchise history, finishing with a .500 record for the first time ever, including going 6-2 at home and setting several team and individual records. The Texans had their best offense, setting team highs in points, average yards per play, total touchdowns, passing touchdowns, total yards and passing yards. Andre Johnson finished with a career and franchise high 8 touchdowns. Mario Williams set a franchise record with 14 sacks, finishing first in the AFC and tied for third in the league and DeMeco Ryans was selected as a starter in his first Pro Bowl. The Texans posted a 7-3 record outside of their division. The Texans Defeated the New Orleans Saints and Reggie Bush in a head to head match-up in 2007, and finished with a better record than the Saints.
