Houston Texans' head coach Gary Kubiak fired today

The Houston Texans announced today that head coach Gary Kubiak had been fired. Kubiak had been with the team for 8 seasons, and went 61-64 overall.

Kubiak's numbers are a tad skewed however, as he came in to right a floundering Texans team and successfully righted the ship in the early years. Even a year ago, this firing would be hard to believe, as Kubiak had led the Texans to 12-4 season last year and established itself as a legitimate Super Bowl contender (before being vanquished by the Patriots). But this year's team is underperforming to the point that it is almost unthinkable. And finally, Houston had seen enough after 11 straight losses and gave him the axe.

Kubiak's ousting shows how fragile a coach's job security is in the NFL nowadays, and how much it depends on the play of your quarterback. With a competent Matt Schaub as the playcaller for Houston, the Texans cruised to AFC South divisional titles in 2011 and 2012. Coupled with All-Pro Andre Johnson, franchise running back Arian Foster, and a stout defense, the Texans' formula of establishing the run and playing elite defense looked like it could overcome Schaub's slightly above average quarterback play to give the team a chance at a Super Bowl. In 2013, Schaub unexplainably self combusted, and with it, Houston's season. The NFL is a fickle league.

The Texans might not be as screwed in the future as some people might think, however. With their depressing lost against the Jacksonville Jaguars last night on Thursday Night Football, Houston has a pretty good hold on the number one overall draft pick. Their defense is still good, and their pass defense is still top notch. JJ Watt is still a world beater. Arian Foster and Andre Johnson are still upper echelon players, and their offensive line is above average. If the Texans can hit on a solid quarterback in this draft, they could more or less be the Seattle Seahawks of the AFC. The Houston Texans might be back sooner rather than later to compete in the AFC.

Photo via cbssports.com