(My Sportsbook) - The Houston Texans were set up perfectly for their first two-game winning streak in franchise history. The winless Cincinnati Bengals limped into Reliant Stadium last week with a bunch of empty guarantees, while Dom Capers' team entered the Week 9 contest with some confidence since it won its first road game in club history a week earlier in Jacksonville.

The end result wasn't too pretty. The Texans were blown out at home last week by the then-winless Bengals, 38-3. It was the worst defeat in the franchise's brief history. Rookie quarterback David Carr completed just 18-of-32 passes for 199 yards and saw his string of 97 straight passes without an interception come to an end. In fact, Carr was picked off twice in the Week 9 debacle.

"The Bengals came in here with an 0-7 record and we knew we would get their best effort," Capers said. "And we certainly got their best effort. Essentially, they outplayed us and outexecuted us all day. I felt coming in that we had really made progress over the past three weeks and, really, for the first time all season we got our tails kicked in all three phases of the game. That's got to change on the road this week against a very tough team."

The NFL's newest club hits the road this week to face the AFC South-leading Tennessee Titans. The game will mark the first time that the Titans, formerly the Houston Oilers, will be playing a team from their former home city.

While Carr has shown improvement throughout the course of his first NFL season, he is still learning, and that means he is still making rookie mistakes. He also hasn't had a lot of help from his teammates. His offensive line, which on paper is one of the best in the league, has been decimated by injuries. Carr, who has been sacked an NFL-high 46 times, is always running for his life. And even when he does find a receiver, often times they drop passes. Last week against the Bengals, the Texans dropped five passes.

Those are the reasons that the Texans are last in the league in total offense and passing yards per game, and 31st in points per game (13.4). But the team still has great confidence in its No. 1 overall draft choice.

"I think he's making the normal progression that a quarterback has to make in this league," offensive coordinator Chris Palmer said. "You'll see small improvements, but sometimes they don't reflect on the scoreboard. But you see yourself going in the right direction. David is going in the right direction.

"There is a learning curve that takes place. In college, you can get away with certain things. You make the step to the NFL, and those windows of opportunity to throw the football are a little bit smaller than they were in the college game. You have to re-educate your thinking and re-educate your arm and say, `Hey, I can make that throw, or I can't make that throw.' Those are the things that all young quarterbacks go through."

SHOCKWAVES HIT DEFENSE

Many are giving the Texans the ultimate compliment by saying their defense doesn't play like an expansion team. But there weren't many people who were saying that after Houston gave up 38 points and 390 yards to the winless Cincinnati Bengals a week ago.

In fact, the Texans' defense has played pretty well all year. The unit gives up an average of 26.8 points and 322.1 yards per game, which ranks 13th in the league.

Last week, the Texans had a rough time containing Corey Dillon, who has the same running style as Tennessee's Eddie George. The Texans must make sure they are able to tackle George at first contact. The defense was embarrassed a week ago, so it will be looking to make amends this week.

"The Bengals just outexecuted us for 60 minutes," linebacker Jay Foreman said. "Everything we did they had an answer for, maybe two sometimes."

"Hopefully that won't happen again," cornerback Marcus Coleman said. "We have to be sure of that."

COMING UP: The Texans will get another crack at the Jaguars in Week 11 at Reliant Stadium.