The Texans made a judgment call Friday that cornerback Kareem Jackson’s sprained right ankle wasn’t quite ready, ruling him out for the Jets game. You can’t say enough about how our defense is playing.
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In the past 18 quarters of play Houston has allowed only two touchdowns and have held the Titans, Bengals and now Saints to just six points apiece, comparing that to the 44 points surrendered to the Dolphins a lot has changed in Houston.
New Orleans (4-7) didn’t score a touchdown for the first time since 2005, snapping a streak of 155 games and Drew Brees’ streak of games with a touchdown pass ended at 45.
The Saints understand that it’s critical for their offense to stay on the field by converting third downs. When the Saints threatened again late in the fourth, a host of Texans defenders converged in the end zone to break up a pass intended for Saints wide receiver Brandon Coleman with 5:43 remaining in the game.
The Texans defense looked very sharp on Sunday and is shaping up to be one of the best in the league. He did not get much help. “The players have really understood what we’re trying to do on defense”. Then, the Saints got a delay of game penalty to put them behind the chains. How about a 325-yard, four touchdown performance against the Saints’ defense with no picks? Texans defensive end J.J. Watt logged two sacks to bring his total to 9.5 sacks in his last five games. Quarterback Brian Hoyer, who missed Week 11 because of a concussion, completed his first 11 passes of the day, finishing the game 21 of 27 for 205 yards and two touchdowns. That allows them the opportunity to dial up their pass rush a bit because you have to hold the ball a little bit longer to push the ball further down the field on third-and-longs.
The OddsShark computer is predicting a 30.4 – 21.5 Texans victory. “Putting the defense out there like that repeatedly and it’s hard for them to corral a good offense if they have to keep going back on the field and don’t get a chance to rest”. Receivers could not get open most of the time. Houston’s offense, which hasn’t scored a touchdown on its opening drive all year, scored on its first two possessions.
The Texans then finished off a long drive with another touchdown.
This offense just doesn’t click well when they play a “classic” offensive strategy. “It was fast, and I thought the preparation during the week, I was pleased with”. Those add up, though. “So yeah, I’ll take that as a fun trivia question that I can be a part of later on”. But the Saints couldn’t move the ball and had to punt.
There might not have been a more disappointing team in the National Football League over the first half than the Texans. And one needs to know he has 70.5 sacks in 75 career games. Special teams has really come up big for us throughout these four wins in a row. We didn’t score points offensively, had a few three-and-outs.
“Kind of been what we want as a gameplan type defense”.
Brian Hoyer threw for a pair of touchdowns and Alfred Blue ran for 77 yards and a score as the Texans played a methodical game, keeping the pressure on the Saints all day on both sides of the ball.
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Given the choice, any defensive coordinator in his right mind would choose to go head-to-head with Yates versus any of the signal callers lined up to face the Jets over the remainder of the season (Ryan Tannehill, Eli Manning, Marcus Mariota, Tony Romo, Tom Brady and Tyrod Taylor).
