Even though Texans head coach Gary Kubiak was hardly blown away by his team's performance in Week 1, a panel of 12 AP voters still made it clear on Tuesday they believe Houston firmly belongs among the NFL's elite.
Coming in at No. 4 overall behind New England, San Francisco and Baltimore, the Texans were generously listed at No. 1 this week by none other than The Dallas Morning News' Rick Gosselin. Gosselin emphatically states that "the AFC is in trouble" due to the health of star wideout Andre Johnson, a sentiment echoed by a number of other analysts who also point out Houston's long-term potential barring injury.
One of the few skeptics in the panel at the moment looks to be Fox Sports' Jon Lynch, who still isn't completely ready to anoint the Texans after beating a lowly team like the Dolphins. "Week 1 saw the Texans do what good teams do," Lynch said after placing Houston at No. 8 on his ballot. "They beat a bad team soundly."
With Johnson and Matt Schaub carving up teams through the air and Arian Foster making opponents pay on the ground, there's no still reason to believe the Texans can't be one of the best teams in the NFL on a weekly basis this season. And while injuries will always remain a serious threat with this team, it's becoming widely apparent that Kubiak may just have the most talented roster of his coaching tenure.
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