HOUSTON — The Texans were hoping for a turnaround artiste when they brought in Wade Phillips as their defensive coordinator before last season, and they haven’t been disappointed. The unit that ranked 30th in the league in 2010 was second last year and still is sixth this year despite losing several key players.

“Wade’s just tremendous at calling a game,” observed head coach Gary Kubiak. “He knows how to bust protections. He knows how to go get a quarterback and is very aggressive from that standpoint. It’s been that way forever in his career.”