Glenn Earl

Texans tight end Owen Daniels was ruled out after spraining his right knee in the first quarter of Houston's game at the Buffalo Bills. Daniels was hurt during Houston's second possession Sunday. It's unclear how he was hurt, the player going down near the line of scrimmage before Matt Schaub underthrew a pass intended for Kevin Walter.  

Top receiver Andre Johnson is active for the Houston Texans against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. Johnson played despite sustaining a bruised lung in the second quarter of Houston's win over San Francisco last Sunday. He leads the league with 634 yards receiving. The Bills were without five starters: quarterback Trent Edwards (concussion), defensive tackle Kyle Williams (knee), safeties Donte...  

The Houston Texans find themselves in an unfamiliar position nine games into the season. They have a winning record (5-4) for the first time this late in the year and remain firmly in the playoff hunt. But as they enter their bye weekend, they're haunted by an inability to win big games like Sunday's 20-17 loss to Indianapolis and know they'll have to find a way to succeed in those...  

The NFL has fined Houston Texans safety Eugene Wilson $5,000 for hitting Colts tight end Dallas Clark during last weekend's game. Wilson was penalized for unnecessary roughness for the hit, which came in the second quarter and the Colts leading 13-0. Indianapolis won the game 20-17. The NFL said Friday that Wilson hit a defenseless receiver.  

In only his third year in Houston, Matt Schaub has no way of telling whether the Texans have completely shed their also-ran label. One thing the quarterback's sure of is that if it hasn't happened yet, then this is the team with the best opportunity to finally put the Texans squarely on the NFL map in their eighth season of existence.  

If Texans running back Steve Slaton's latest turnover means he's fumbled away his starting job in Houston, Ryan Moats is certainly ready to step in. In a game the Texans lost star tight end Owen Daniels to what's feared to be a severe knee injury, Slaton was sent to the bench after losing his fifth fumble of the season.  

Houston's defense has a new attitude. Some might call it confidence, but the Texans prefer to call it something else. "You have to have the swagger when you step on the field that you're going to get it done, you're going to go make big plays to get off the field," linebacker DeMeco Ryans said.  

Houston had a chance for its first single-season, four-game winning streak on Sunday against the Colts. Instead, the Texans committed a season-high 103 yards of penalties and three turnovers before Kris Brown missed a potential game-tying field goal as time expired in the 20-17 loss. "This week we were very sloppy," coach Gary Kubiak said.  

With six fumbles, Houston running back Steve Slaton has coughed up the ball more than any non-quarterback in the NFL. He's lost four of the six, leaving him tied for second in that category behind struggling Oakland quarterback JaMarcus Russell. The Texans don't know why Slaton is struggling with ball security this season after fumbling just three times as a rookie last year.  

Once the Houston Texans addressed their turnover troubles and turned to backup running back Ryan Moats, they solved the offensively inept Buffalo Bills and ran away with a 31-10 win on Sunday.  

Bills owner Ralph Wilson has received his Pro Football Hall of Fame ring in a halftime ceremony during Buffalo's game against the Houston Texans on Sunday.  

HOUSTON - With six fumbles, Houston running back Steve Slaton has coughed up the ball more than any non-quarterback in the NFL.  

Aside from the Kris Brown missed field goal that ended the game and gave the Indianapolis Colts a 20-17 win over...  

HOUSTON - The Houston Texans have won three straight and have their best record in franchise history at 5-3.  

HOUSTON - The Houston Texans find themselves in an unfamiliar position nine games into the season.