HOUSTON (AP) – The New England Patriots need to look back one week to ward themselves against taking their trip to Houston lightly.

The first-place Patriots have won six straight and their 8-2 start ties the best in franchise history. But the Texans are coming off a close win against the Buffalo Bills, who shut out New England in the season opener.

“We realize that and I think they can feed off of that also. They did something we didn’t,” Patriots cornerback Ty Law said. “They’re going to come out fired up and ready to play, just as well as our team. I think it’ll turn out to be a better game than people think it might be.”

The second-year Texans (4-6) beat Buffalo 12-10, giving them two wins in their last three games and matching the victory total from their inaugural season.

When they play the Patriots, the Texans will be unique in having faced the teams with the top records in the league – the Chiefs (9-1) and the Titans, Colts and Panthers (all 8-2). Houston beat the Panthers with Tony Banks subbing at quarterback, and he will start again Sunday as David Carr rests a sprained right shoulder.

The Texans have navigated that schedule with an injury-depleted defense that has been among the most vulnerable until some recent improvement.

“We’re settling into basically what’s going to be us for the rest of this year,” said defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who lost star nose tackle Seth Payne to a knee injury in Week 2 and essentially has been without Pro Bowl end Gary Walker all year.

Junior Ioane and Steve Martin, both unemployed when the Texans picked them up during the season, are filling in.

“We have a better feel for what they can and can’t do,” said Fangio, who also has resorted to some exotic defensive formations to mask deficiencies. “I think it helps the guys to get more (practice) in what we are doing.”

Coach Dom Capers refuses to use injuries as an excuse, noting the Patriots’ defense has thrived despite relying at times on backups and rookies to fill holes left by injured starters like linebackers Rosevelt Colvin, Ted Johnson and Mike Vrabel and nose tackle Ted Washington.

But the defense has not skipped a beat since their 31-0 loss at Buffalo. And now stars Washington and Johnson are getting back to bolster them even more.

“You have to give some credit to everybody: the coaches, the players, the young guys stepping up and contributing the way that they have, and our veteran leadership,” Law said. “We’ve taken the young guys and put them under our wing and coached them as much as we can while we’re trying to do our jobs. It’s working.”

The game will lack the simmering subplots that marked the Patriots’ shutout of Dallas a week ago, when the friend-to-feud relationship between Patriots coach Bill Belichick and Cowboys coach Bill Parcells was the story.

And, no, there’s no bad blood between Belichick and Capers.

“I think it was a media story, absolutely,” Belichick said. “I’m just saying from my standpoint it was about trying to get the team ready to play and play a good football team … I understand that the other story was a big story for the media.”

The closest thing there is to a revenge story line is that of right tackle Greg Randall, who has helped bolster the Texans’ famously porous offensive line from a year ago. He started every game in the Pats’ 2001 championship season, then squeezed his more than 330 pounds into Belichick’s doghouse when he reported to training camp overweight and spent most of last season on the bench.

New England essentially gave him to Houston, trading him for a fifth-round draft choice – one round worse than where the Patriots selected him in 2000.

“It’s just another game,” Randall said. “I’m just ready to play and move on. It worked out best for both parties and I’m just happy to be here.”

AP-ES-11-20-03 1923EST