Anyone who thinks Gary Kubiak devoutly sticks to gameplans with all the imagination of the missionary position received a shock in Denver.

For Kubiak brought an innovative, bold approach to the Texans' biggest game of the season. That's as big a reason as any that the Texans are looking Super heading into Sunday's home game with a 1-2 Tennessee Titans team while other contenders appear as flat as the soda in a bad fast food restaurant.

Matt Schaub throwing for four touchdowns — losing a chunk of ear in the process — and J.J. Watt racking up two and a half sacks against Peyton Manning dominated the headlines (at least until that little touchdown call in Seattle by the replacement refs). But without Kubiak and offensive coordinator Rick Dennison's creative attack, the Texans never move to 3-0 and start getting touted as the best team in the NFL by everyone from Peter King to the New York Daily News.

Without Kubiak and Dennison, the Texans would be more like the Dallas Cowboys, a team packed with offensive talent that struggles to score 16 points in a home game against Tampa Bay.

You don't think Kubiak could get more out of a receiver as physically gifted as Dez Bryant than Jason Garrett has?

You say Dez is simply a head case? Arian Foster was once considered such a problem that he went completely undrafted and look how Kubiak taught him how to be a pro.

Or just look at how Kubiak found a way to highlight the skills of Keshawn Martin and Lestar Jean — essentially two first-year players — against the Broncos.

The Texans may have won their first two games largely on superior talent. But a superior scheme played a large role at the Mile High stadium complex. Kubiak and Dennison put the offense on attack mode, using plenty of cunning to do it.

"We saw some things we thought we could go after," tight end Owen Daniels says. "The play calling had a very aggressive mindset."

The result?

Six plays of more than 20 yards and 31 points in the first 50 minutes of the game.

In contrast, those Garrett and Tony Romo Cowboys managed to produce only one 20-plus yard play and a single touchdown against the Bucs. It turns out that Jerry Jones' Princeton Man is about as creative as a brow-beaten Walmart shift manager.

It's not the 60- and 52-yard touchdown throws to Andre Johnson and Kevin Walter — those came out of the Texans' usually deadly play-action game — as much as the matchups Kubiak and Dennison exploited.

This was no muddle huddle offense designed to sap the will out of Jacksonville. It was a more intricate affair — albeit one designed to go for Denver's throat early and often.

Want innovation?

How about using Martin, the speedy rookie receiver, on a reverse? Check — good for 21 yards. How about having backup tight end Garrett Graham stretch the field? Check — good for 27 yards.

"We've had that in the playbook since the beginning of the season," Martin tells CultureMap of his reverse. "That's the type of plays I had at Michigan State. It was just a matter when we were going to use it."

Kubiak saved it for a big game, for an important moment, for the right time.

Not that being creative necessarily means going large.

Getting all-pro tailback Arian Foster isolated in the flat on a linebacker for an easy 3-yard touchdown toss from Schaub is as critical a bit of creativity as Kubiak and Dennison pulled off in Denver. It came on third-and-goal and meant the difference between scoring seven points or having to settle for three.

Foster likes to say he's just a chess piece, often calling himself a rook that gets moved around the big board. While Kubiak is playing like a grandmaster at the moment. Garrett? He could probably get chess duped by the nearest homeless guy in a park.

The Relaxation Method

The aftereffects of Kubiak's game calling prowess are pretty easy to see. On Friday when reporters are let into the locker room, the song "Hot Hot Hot" blares from the speaker system. Nose tackle Shaun Cody is trying to get a dance contest going.

Things are fun when you're winning, when your coach is dialed in, when innovation is on your side.

The swagger of Wade Phillips' Bulls On Parade defense is easier to see, but Kubiak's offense has a little strut too.

"We can beat you in a lot of different ways," left tackle Duane Brown says. "Jacksonville (in Week Two) dropped back and played us with a lot of two deep, so we ran it right at them. Denver moved up and tried to shut down the run and that lets No. 8 do his thing.

"The important thing is we keep attacking."

Kubiak's offense often looks deceptively simple with Schaub play-action and roll-out throws the crucial component of the passing game. But this 51-year-old football lifer is much more creative than he's given credit for. There is an reason Joel Dreessen looked much better with Kubiak last year than he has with Peyton Manning this season. There is a reason that James Casey, a fifth round draft pick out of Rice University, is a viable offensive weapon in Houston.

"We have stuff in the playbook that no one's seen before," Martin says. "Coach is not playing around."

Instead, Kubiak is dialing up his play calls, giving the Texans the type of creative edge that a team like the Cowboys can only dream of.