HOUSTON — The Houston Texans return from their weekend off against a Cleveland quarterback who is doing exactly what the Texans want their new starter to do.

Brian Hoyer, who led the Browns to a 6-3 record and sole possession of first place in the AFC North, spent three seasons backing up Tom Brady at New England. Two of his assistant coaches on offense were Bill O’Brien and George Godsey.

Ryan Mallett, making the first start of his career, spent three seasons backing up Tom Brady at New England. O’Brien and Godsey were two of his assistant coaches.

The Texans are hoping Mallett can have the kind of success over the last seven games that Hoyer is having with the Browns.

The Texans have just about everything in place other than a quarterback who can make enough plays to turn close losses into victories.

Ryan Fitzpatrick was 4-5 as the starter but was replaced by Mallett because O’Brien said the offense needed a “spark” after the bye.

The Texans have an exceptional running game with Arian Foster. Their offensive line has been terrific at run blocking but sporadic at pass protection. Receivers Andre Johnson and DeAndre Hopkins have been productive.

Defensively, the Texans have played well enough to have a winning record.

What the team has been missing is a productive quarterback. Fitzpatrick didn’t make plays to lose, but he also didn’t make plays to win.

For Mallett to be more effective than Fitzpatrick, the pass protection must improve, especially against the blitz. The Texans allowed five sacks in their first five games. Beginning with Indianapolis, they’ve been blitzed by each of their last four opponents and have surrendered 15 sacks.

And that’s with a mobile Fitzpatrick.

The coaches spent a big part of the off week working on improving the pass protection.

“It’s more than who’s mobile and who’s not mobile,” O’Brien said. “It starts with making sure you know the read of the play, that you know you understand where the ball’s supposed to go almost as soon as the ball’s snapped, and in many cases, before the ball’s snapped. That’s one of the keys.

“The other key is you’re leading the protection, that you’re on the same page with the offensive line that you’re getting everybody to the right guy that you want to be picked up — the five or six guys you want protected.”

Mallett is a different quarterback in his fourth season than the rookie the Patriots selected in the third round in 2011 when O’Brien was his offensive coordinator.

“We’ll have to see how he is in the game, but in practice since the day he arrived here, there has been a lot of improvement from when I was with him in New England,” O’Brien said.

–Like his teammates, defensive end J.J. Watt is curious about what quarterback Ryan Mallett will do in his first start against Cleveland.

“Of course,” Watt said. “We (defense) wish him well, and we hope he does great.

“Whoever’s running the helm on the offensive side we hope they do a great job, and we have confidence in them, and we do what we can to help. As a defense you want to do as much as you can, try to get them the ball as much as you can. It’s a good opportunity.

“That’s the offensive side. I control the defensive side. We go out there and play as hard as we can. I know that everybody is going to do the exact same thing. We’re looking forward to a great opportunity at Cleveland.”

Since Mallett arrived in Houston from New England the first week of September, receiver Andre Johnson has been working with him in practice.

“You can kind of get comfortable with a guy from practicing with him, but I don’t think you can really get to know a guy that well until a lot of stuff that goes into the offseason and stuff like that,” Johnson said. “I’m comfortable with him.

“I’m pretty sure if you have an offseason and stuff with him, there are other things that you can be more comfortable with. You never really get where you’re on the same page until you’ve just been through a whole offseason together.”

Johnson knows what he needs to do to help Mallett be successful against Cleveland.

“I’ve got to do everything I can to try and get open and make plays for him,” Johnson said. “Make plays and protect the ball.

“We all have to do what we need to do to help the team win. We all have to play a part in it. It’s not just him. Whoever is at quarterback, it doesn’t matter. We all have to do our jobs. It’s not just going to be about him. It’s going to be about all of us. All of us need to step our game out and play the way we know how to play.

“He’s been in the offense for a few years, so he’s comfortable with what he’s doing. I’m just excited as him to get out there on Sunday.”

REPORT CARD AT THE BYE

–PASSING OFFENSE: C-minus — Ryan Fitzpatrick has been benched and replaced by Ryan Mallett despite a career-best 87.1 rating. He has 11 touchdown passes and eight interceptions, four that weren’t his fault. But he was terrible on third down. He was awful in the first half and awesome in the second. He missed receivers who were open. He failed to see others who were wide open. He didn’t make plays to lose games, but he didn’t make plays to win them, either.

–RUSHING OFFENSE: A — Arian Foster has been outstanding with 822 yards, a 5.1-yard average per carry and 10 touchdowns, including seven rushing. He missed all of one game and rushed for only six yards in another. The run blocking has been terrific most of the time.

–PASS DEFENSE: C — It starts with the pass rush, and J.J. Watt has been the only player to put consistent pressure on the quarterback. He has 8.5 sacks and 29 hits on the quarterback. The defensive backs have given up too many completions of 30 or more yards. The defense has surrendered 18 touchdown passes. They have 10 interceptions and 11 forced fumbles.

–RUSH DEFENSE: C — They allow 117.3 yards a game and 4.2 a carry. The defense had done a splendid job against the run until the Eagles gouged them for 190. They haven’t lost five games because of the run defense. It’s been good enough most of the time, but the Texans must recover from the poor performance against Philadelphia.

–SPECIAL TEAMS: C-minus — Kicker Randy Bullock is 15 of 18, but he’s missed two field goals that were crucial and contributed to losses. His kickoffs have been deep for the first time. Shane Lechler’s 47.7-yard gross is excellent, but his 37.8 net is 3 yards less than last season. Poor punt coverage has contributed to that. The return teams are terrible. The coverage teams are sporadic.

–COACHING: C — Bill O’Brien says you are what your record says you are. The Texans are 4-5. That’s twice as many victories as last season. They’ve beaten the teams they were favored to beat. They’ve lost to teams that were favored to defeat them. They lost by seven or fewer points to Dallas, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh. In short, they’re an average team.