The sports world is going crazy over the coach fight between the 49ers Jim Harbaugh and the Detroit Lions Jim Schwartz. OK, it was more of a skirmish — with one grown out-of-control man trying to chase down another grown out-of-control man with a hapless PR flack nearly caught in the middle and turned into a 21st-century version of Jeff Van Gundy hanging off Alonzo Mourning's leg.

Where's Mike Gundy when you need him?

With that bit of irresistible drama and the Dallas Cowboys choking away another "statement" game thanks to Rob Ryan's roll-over-when-it-counts defense, there is little chance of the Houston Texans' 29-14 loss to the Baltimore Ravens stealing many national headlines. There wasn't a more predictable result on the NFL season's sixth Sunday than this one. Houston's reverted back to being "the same old Texans" when Gary Kubiak's team is thought of at all beyond the borders of the Lone Star State.

But those glancing right over Texans-Ravens are missing a bit of important gruesomeness. For on a day when Schwartz and Harbaugh tried to rumble, a day when New Orleans coach Sean Payton blew out his knee on the sidelines, a day in which Raiders quarterback Jason Campbell broke his collarbone, it was Texans quarterback Matt Schaub who took the most senseless beating of all.

Schaub will groan on to play more Sundays, but that doesn't make the pounding any more worthwhile.

The Texans didn't have the pieces to beat the Ravens in Baltimore. Yet Schaub still dropped back to pass 37 times, taking a ferocious whipping that included four sacks, even more hits and countless other indignities. He might as well have been Archie Manning on one of those miserable New Orleans Saints teams in the 1970s.

Houston isn't close to that bad — but general manager Rick Smith and Kubiak have left Schaub exposed and vulnerable with their personnel moves. The NFL's seeing just how thin these Texans still are on the depth chart. With lifeline wide receiver Andre Johnson out, Houston doesn't have anything close to a legitimate No. 2 wide receiver. With Vonta Leach opening up monster holes for the Ravens, the Texans don't have anything close to their 2010 ground attack either.

That leaves Schaub out on an island, left to try and steal games from a superior opponent. He had Houston within 19-14 deep into the fourth quarter in Baltimore, but the bullies in purple weren't about to let a depleted team truly come close to winning. It ended up 29-14, yet another lost afternoon for the Texans' offense.

Wade Phillips' defense played well enough to keep Houston in the game, even with $50 million free-agent cornerback Johnathan Joseph having his first real off game of the season, with Anquan Boldin (132 yards receiving) beating Joseph on many of his eight catches. Phillips has little choice but to gamble with using his No. 1 cornerback in one-on-one coverage a lot of the time though. Everyone knows that this Texans' defense is still flawed in many ways.

The offense, on the other hand, is supposed to be the Texans' bedrock, the force that always can be counted on.

Yet, check out the numbers from the last three weeks. Houston's put up 17, 20 and 14 points in back-to-back-to-back games. Sure, this run coincides with Johnson's second-quarter injury against the Steelers. But the Texans are supposed to be more than a one-man attack. This is one of the most feared offenses in the NFL. Right?

Not this season.

Six games into 2011 — with more than a third of the season played — Houston is averaging 23.5 points per game, good for 13th in NFL. That puts Kubiak's squad behind the likes of the Raiders, the Ravens and the 49ers, and barely ahead of the Cincinnati Bengals and Minnesota Vikings.

Phillips' defense is giving up only 20.7 points per game, ninth best in the NFL, ahead of such perennial powers as the New England Patriots and San Diego Chargers.

Houston has a problem all right — and it's Gary Kubiak's offense.

House of Cards

Tailback Arian Foster criticized himself for playing "terrible" in a 49-yard rushing day, but you have to start to wonder just how much he misses Leach. It didn't help that the battering ram all-pro fullback that the Texans decided they didn't have any money for this offseason took Houston linebacker DeMeco Ryans completely out of the play on the Ravens' clinching touchdown. Baltimore coach John Harbaugh calls Leach "a road grader."

The Texans should be calling him an offensive regret — one of many.

You can still include Jacoby Jones among them. Yes, Kubiak's pet project played much better than he did in last week's 25-20 home loss to the Raiders. Of course, Jones could have fallen off the team bus and broken his ankle and still contributed more than he did against Oakland. Jones did have a nice 32-yard touchdown catch against Baltimore's tough defense and he ended up leading the Texans in receiving yards (76).

But no one in the league is the least bit frightened by Jacoby Jones. Certainly not adjust your defense frightened.

With Johnson out, the gameplan for opposing defenses against the Texans' offense is frighteningly simple: Focus on Foster and tight end Owen Daniels (two catches for 13 yards Sunday) and just dare any other Texan to try and beat us. Schaub is trying — and getting beaten for it.

The eighth-year quarterback came into the game with a bruised shoulder and left it with CBS announcer Greg Gumbel calling him "courageous." "He has taken a whooping," Gumbel marveled as the Ravens put the finishing touches on a 15-point win, one in which they held Houston to 21 yards on its last three possessions.

The already fragile Texans will be done if Schaub ever goes down, making the whooping even more senseless. Houston didn't have the horses to win this game because its high-powered offense is much more fragile than anyone expected. Take away an important piece and all you're left with is No. 8 in the pocket, taking a beating.

There's no genius in that. No madcap fun. Just a lot of pain.