NFL Power Rankings for Week 6 are in from all the major media outlets, and the absence of Mario Williams is the common theme.
ESPN's Matt Kuharsky slips them to No. 12, citing Williams' season-ending injury:
The loss of Mario Williams for the season and the way they lost to Oakland don't bode well for Texans.
There aren't many NFL players who can change a game single-handedly, and Brian Billick, the former NFL head coach, worries that Houston has lost one on both sides of the ball in consecutive weeks. At Fox Sports, he rates Houston as No. 11 entering their showdown with Baltimore:
The Texans just can't seem to catch a break. Losing their two best players in WR Andre Johnson and OLB Mario Williams in back-to-back weeks is very difficult to overcome. This may prove to be a tipping point for QB Matt Schaub, particularly facing the Ravens in Baltimore this week.
The most bullish national voice on the Texans is CBS Sports Pete Prisco, who keeps them at No. 7 in his latest rankings:
Losing Mario Williams is a big hit. They have to show they can win a big road game, starting against the Ravens.
There's certainly going to be little sympathy for Houston going forward, especially considering how the AFC South was essentially handed to them by much of the media after Peyton Manning's season-ending neck surgery.