As wins pile up, players happy to ride it out

Poke, prod and pry all you want, but the Texans won’t give it up. They won’t cooperate. You just can’t get them to say, “We’re the best team in the NFL.”

But what you can get them to concede, or at least strongly imply, is that they like their chances against anyone anywhere. Bring it on, Packers. Bring it on, Ravens. Bring it on, everybody. Such is the collective winner’s mentality now on display in the team’s Reliant Stadium lair that, although they assume they will lose again at some point— just reality- based thinking; only the ’ 72Miami Dolphins have won them all— the Texans suggest they’ll be surprised when it does finally happen.

They’ll be downright startled if it happens tonight, even if it’s Green Bay that’s visiting. And, no, it’s not because the Packers are scuffling a bit at 2- 3.

“We still don’t feel like we have played our best ball,” safety DaniealManning said. “Not even close. We’re loving being 5- 0, but we want to come out and dominate every week. We as a group, as a team, we have not done that yet. Individually maybe, with a guy like J. J. ( Watt). But J. J. will tell you he wants to do somuch more, that he can do somuch more, too. Andre ( Johnson). Arian ( Foster). Matt ( Schaub). They’ll all tell you the same thing.”

Building confidence

It’s an understandable mindset. After all, it has been a year since they were last beaten with Schaub at quarterback. Besides more national notoriety— they’re playing in prime time back to back for the first time ever — a victory over Green Bay will get them to 6- 0 in 2012 and keep them undefeated, at 10- 0, behind Schaub since they lost to the Ravens in Baltimore on Oct. 16, 2011.

Expectations are, for the moment, a ball and chain to these Packers, Texans ( 5- 0) Pros: Lead the NFL in time of possession ( 35: 29 average) by a long shot and are third in point differential. Offense has allowed fewer sacks ( three) and committed fewer turnovers ( three) than any team. Defense ranks third overall and is tied for third in points allowed. Opposing quarterbacks have posted the secondworst rating. Are 3- 0 on the road and have won three games by at least 20 points. Cons: Passing game ranks only 20th and offense is 14th overall. Special teams are near the bottomin both returns and coverage, having given up two returns for touchdowns. Opponents have won just eight of 25 games, worst among teams on this list. Falcons ( 5- 0) Pros: Tied for the NFL lead in turnover differential ( plus 10). Have the secondhighest QB rating, and third- down conversation rate is tied for secondbest. Are 3- 0 on the road, including 27- 3 pounding of the 3- 2 Chargers. Cons: Rushing defense is 27th, allowing 143 yards per game. Defense overall is only 17th and has let opponents convert 42 percent of third downs ( 17th). Tied for 17th in sacks allowed. who represent a storied franchise and are just a season and change removed from their most recent Super Bowl Championship. But expectations are an elixir for the Texans, a wind beneath their newly sprouted wings.

“Guess we’re sort of creatures of habit,” Manning said. “We take it one day at a time around here, which you have to do to stay focused, but we have gotten used to winning. We’re stacking wins and building a lot of confidence.”

The six- year veteran has been here before. During his rookie season 49ers ( 4- 1) Pros: Last two victories have been by a combined 79- 3 score. Have the NFL’s No. 1 rushing offense ( 196.2 yards per game) and No. 1 overall defense ( 262.6), as well as the second- best pass defense. Have given up the fewest points ( 13.6) and have the best point differential ( plus 81). Quarterback rating ( 108.0) leads the league. Opponents have an 11- 13 record, best among the five teams on this list. Cons: Are only 27th in passing yards. Have allowed 12 sacks ( tied for 17th) and registered only nine ( tied for 19th). Rank 13th in thirddown conversions. in Chicago, the Bears reached 8- 0 before losing. But, significantly, their first defeat was just a minor speed bump. They still made the Super Bowl.

“You’ve got to roll with the punches,” nose tackle Shaun Cody said, “and we will when we have to.”

Expecting victories

Cody has been here before, too, but only in college. As a USC Trojan, he was part of a perfect season that ended with a national championship. In the NFL, Cody has experienced something quite different, having gone 0- 16 with the 2008 Detroit Lions. Bears ( 4- 1) Pros: Lead the NFL in turnovers forced with 17, three more than any other team. Opposing quarterback rating ( 60.0) is lowest in the league. Pass defense is secondbest and turnover differential is third overall. Are second in points allowed and point differential and third in points scored and turnovers forced. Have won four games by at least 20 points, and the last two by a combined 75- 21 score. Cons: Offense ranks only 19th overall and the passing game is 22nd. Their 14 sacks allowed are tied for 25th, and the quarterback rating is 23rd.

Habits, good or bad, are hard to break.

“I appreciate what we’re doing, and I’m enjoying it,” Cody said. “I’ve seen the other side, the dark side. I definitely think there’s something about winning and losing cultures. ( In Detroit) when games were tight, you’d expect to lose. We’ve also been through here. But now, when games are tight, we think we’ll win and we have. You’ll feel it on the sideline. It’s like, ‘ What are we going to do now to win?’ instead of wondering, ‘ God, when is something bad going to happen?’ It’s a feeling that things are going to go Patriots ( 3- 2) Pros: Lead the league in total offense ( 439.4 yards) and are third in rushing. Are tied for first in points scored ( 33 per game) and turnover differential ( plus 10). Quarterback rating is fourth- best. Two losses have been by a combined three points to the 4- 1 Cardinals and the 4- 1 Ravens, the latter on the road. Have won twice by at least 20 points. Cons: Pass defense ranks 30th ( 290 yards allowed per game) and the overall defense 20th. Opponents are converting 44 percent of their thirddown opportunities ( 25th). Are 19th in sacks registered and 17th in sacks allowed. right.”

The Texans were, however, force fed their first dollop of adversity this week with the loss of defensive captain Brian Cushing to a seasonending knee injury, suffered against the Jets. That’s both a strategic and psychological blow to overcome. But the Texans experienced no discernible drop- off without Cushing in the second half at TheMeadowlands. WhileMark Sanchez’s troubled offense hardly represents the same grade of threat as do the Packers and Aaron Rodgers, that still spoke to where the Texans are emotionally.

They’re 100 percent sure of themselves. That makes them happy and keeps them loose, which makes them all the more likely to continue achieving great things. You’ve heard of a vicious cycle? What the Texans are experiencing is the opposite.

Imagine defensive end Antonio Smith standing at his locker and calling his teammates “the coolest dudes that ever walked the face of this earth” if the Texans were 2- 3. Imagine Cody sporting a custom- made Texans serape and sombrero, then hiring amariachi band for karaoke sessions in the locker room had the Texans blown the Denver and New York games.

“I’mnot the same character now that I was on that 0- 16 Lions team,” he said. “If I was acting ( silly) and we were 0- 5, they’d say, ‘ Get that guy out of town.’ ”

‘ Man, I’m lovin’ it’

Smith was asked if the Texans are good because they’re cool, or cool because they’re good.

“I think it all works hand in hand when it comes to the ways of the universe,” Smith said. “If we weren’t who we are, the way we connect and have fun, we wouldn’t be able to feed off of each other. I’ve been on teams that were good but not quite in sync. You can have a lot of great athletes, but if you don’t mesh. … The fact that we’ve grown together and now fit together like we do, that’s whywe play likewe do.” Hence, why they’re 5- 0. “Man, I’mlovin’ it,” said Smith, who has been down this yellow brick road before, having ridden a 4- 0 late- season wave into the Super Bowl as an Arizona Cardinal in 2008. “Itmay look easy and peoplemay expect you towin everyweek, but it’s hard to win in this league. To be five and oh — it’s the first time I’ve ever been five and oh in my life— you’ve got to love it. I think it’s awesome to have our team on this type of stage.”