With the news earlier in the week that FS Eugene Wilson is out for the season with foot injuries, the little bit of hope that some Texans fans might have had for a win over the Colts seemed to… sail wide to the left (sorry). Wilson is far and away the best cover safety the Texans have; a skill that would be especially beneficial against Peyton Manning.

The Texans (and especially left tackle Duane Brown) got some news today that you would think helps Houston’s chances to win. Star DE Dwight Freeney did not travel with the Colts to Houston for their game against the Texans tomorrow.

Duane Brown has had a pretty good second season as a pro, but let’s be honest here - in his short career, Freeney has pretty much owned Brown when they’ve been in one-on-one situations.

Without Eugene Wilson, the Texans won’t be losing a team leader or the best player on the defense - but they lose something they’ve never had in franchise history - a safety who is at least average in coverage. Taking over for him is an undrafted bench player, John Busing. Busing impressed in preseason, but was exposed badly early in the year. He was blowing assignments and getting caught out of position regularly.

After the Monday night loss to Tennessee (dammit), Gary Kubiak praised Busing for his play coming off the bench. Not to knock Vince Young, but - that was against Vince Young. On a short week, now Busing has to turn around and do whatever it is he can do to help slow down Peyton Manning. Sound like a nightmare? Sure does.

So which loss hurts more?
I’m speaking in terms of a one game basis, of course. We all know Wilson is down for the year while Freeney will probably be back on the field next week. To me, this is a no-brainer. My answer is - Eugene Wilson.

The Texans have been tantalizingly close to beating the Colts when Freeney has been in the line-up. I firmly believe the Texans’ recent problems are as much about coaching than anything else. Freeney is of course a huge difference-maker, but at least the Colts have another serious pass-rushing threat in Robert Mathis. They can move him around and still give the Texans big problems.

Unfortunately, there isn’t much to fall back on for the Texans with Wilson out. John Busing is going to have to play out of his mind, and hope that Glover Quin and Jacques Reeves can play well enough to make up for what will probably be another disappointing performance from Dunta Robinson, who was an absolute train wreck against the Titans, as he got repeatedly destroyed by a rookie.

Before you instantly disagree that the loss of Wilson is bigger - also consider the ENORMOUS amount of injuries that the Colts had in their first game against the Texans. It didn’t seem to make much of a difference. The Texans still played them tough, and the Texans still managed to blow it at the end of the game.

Who knows what we’ll see tomorrow? Conventional wisdom probably suggests that the Texans are in for yet another soul-crushing, bandwagon-emptying, last-second loss. Others might think the Colts are about to blow Houston out of their own building after a short turn around following such a tough loss on Monday.

I don’t know. I have no answers, only more questions. Yesterday I was oddly optimistic. Today, all I can think about is how tough it’s going to be to keep Peyton from having his way with the secondary.

I’m guessing there will be some differing opinions here. After a nice long visit with family, I’m actually going to go to bed early for a change. Tomorrow, back to the roller coaster ride that is Texans fandom. Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend, everyone - and let’s all hope for some late game misfortune to befall the other team for a change.