HOUSTON-- In his third season, including his first in Wade Phillips’ 3-4, inside linebacker Brian Cushing is off to a terrific start. He plays on the strong side and has led the team in tackles in three of four games. His 28 tackles are 10 more than strong safety Glover Quin’s 18. Although he seldom rushes, he has four hits on the quarterback.
Cushing is the only linebacker who never leaves the field. He drops into coverage and covers a lot of ground in the middle. One reason the Texans rank fourth in points allowed (70) and have improved from 30th to 10th in defense is because Cushing has been consistently good.
“A holy terror,” Phillips called him recently. To defeat Oakland, the Texans must contain the Raiders’ running game that averages 178.8 yards. That’s Cushing’s specialty, being stout in the middle. He should spend a lot of time trying to bring down Darren McFadden, who averages 6.2 yards a carry. How well Cushing plays should go a long way to determining if the Texans are going to win and start 4-1.
INJURY FRONT: Ideally, Arian Foster won’t have to touch the ball 33 times, including 30 carries, as he did against Pittsburgh. The coaches are hoping Ben Tate (groin) will be healthy enough to back up Foster. Tate hasn’t practiced this week. They would like for Foster to get the ball 25 times and Tate around 10 times. Derrick Ward (ankle, shoulder) hasn’t practiced, either. He’s not expected to play. If Tate isn’t well enough to play, Chris Ogbonnaya will be the only healthy backup. That means Foster will have to be a workhorse for a second consecutive week . . . Cornerback Kareem Jackson (knee) was limited in practice. He could be replaced by Jason Allen for a second consecutive game. Allen played better against Pittsburgh than Jackson played in the first three games.
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