Texans Defense Has Chance To Be NFL’s Best
By Yoni Pollak
The Houston Texans defense is led by J.J. Watt, an All-World athlete known by every NFL fan and even many non-NFL fans.
For the last two seasons, that’s pretty much all they have had on defense. A banged up Brian Cushing, a declining Johnathan Joseph, and an improving corner in Kareem Jackson, joined Watt on an otherwise underwhelming defense.
The Wade Phillips years brought some excitement to the city when the defense had Connor Barwin rushing off the edge, Glover Quin roaming center field, and veterans Antonio Smith and Danieal Manning helping lead a young defense, including Watt.
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That defense was known to many around the city as “Bulls On Parade”. You know, that same defense that brought letterman jackets to New England only to get embarrassed on national television. That was 2012.
Gone are the days of “Bulls On Parade”, Wade Phillips and the banged up linebackers. Instead, enter a healthy Brian Cushing. Enter Vince Wilfork. Enter Jadeveon Clowney.
Here’s a bold statement for you optimistic Texans fans: This year’s Texans defense has the chance, not only to be the league’s best defense this year, but to be one of the best defenses of this decade. Yes, DECADE.
I don’t need to tell you about J.J. Watt. He’s a generational player that may turn out to be the best defensive player to EVER play in the NFL if he keeps playing at this level for the rest of the decade. (Well, I guess I kind of told you about him).
Then there’s former Patriots stud nose tackle Vince Wilfork. Wilfork isn’t the same Wilfork from earlier in his career but he’s still very capable of destroying teams that only put one blocker on him. I dare you to try it.
Remember the guy the Texans selected at first overall last year? Remember the guy that some experts believed to be the best pass-rusher coming out of the draft in ages? Yea, he’s back, and though Jadeveon Clowney may not 100 percent healthy yet, he’ll be seeing many important snaps today.
If you take just Clowney, Wilfork and Watt rushing the passer, that’s three players that all need to be double-teamed. But guess what? Teams can’t put six players on three rushers. One or two of them will see one-on-ones and should be salivating at those opportunities. Good luck!
I’ve named 3/11 of the defense and I already have you amped for the Texans offense to give way to the defense. Trust me, there’s more.
Let’s talk a bit about Whitney Mercilus, you know, the 2012 1st rounder the Texans dished out $26 million this offseason to help sack the likes of Andrew Luck, Blake Bortles, and Marcus Mariota. Yea, the Texans loved what they saw this offseason and preseason from Mercilus and he figures to see tons of one-on-one looks all season long. He should easily be able to hit the 10-sack mark this season.
Jared Crick is no one to sneeze at either. Once considered a first round prospect, Crick fell to the fourth round due to torn pectoral his senior season. Crick isn’t a flashy pass rusher but he and Watt are known to have great chemistry, and Crick is usually there to clean up anything Watt may leave over for him.
I have now talked about five players without even mentioning the animal in the middle that was the life and soul of the Texans defense when healthy. Brian Cushing was an animal. Injuries have derailed his career but he now looks as healthy as ever. Cushing was all over the field in the preseason and looks like the Cushing we saw from earlier in his career. A sure-tackler and maniac, a healthy Cushing will do wonders for an already stout-looking defense.
There’s very little to worry about when it comes to the studs on the front-seven, but how does this year’s secondary look? Pretty good, I’d say.
Kareem Jackson has taken over the team’s #1 CB duties. Jackson is a solid top corner and capable of changing games. Johnathan Joseph has aged but is still a useful #2 CB. Rookie Kevin Johnson will also see lots of snaps this season and looked good in the preseason. He will be on in nickel situations and will likely be on the field more than whoever gets the start at the ILB spot opposite Cushing.
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The Texans also added Rahim Moore this offseason to patrol the deep part of the field. Quintin Demps will start opposite Moore and seems to have some more juice left in his tank. Those two safeties should have many opportunities to make some plays with a heavy pass rush aiding them.
The starting 11 should be the league’s best this year, but the Texans also have nice depth at every position. Rookie Christian Covington had a great preseason and will spell Wilfork from time-to-time. Akeem Dent and John Simon were underrated pickups last offseason. Even in the secondary, A.J. Bouye, Darryl Morris, Jumal Rolle, Eddie Pleasant and Dre Hal all have shown they are more than capable of making a big play.
So if you’re more excited to watch the defense than the offense, I don’t blame you. It will be fun to see the good guys battle in the trenches.”Sack City” may be something you hear a ton of this season, though “Crush City”, a cute nickname for the Astros, may work even better for the Texans defense.
Stacked. That’s one way to describe them in one word.
In 16+ games from now, I hope we could describe them a different way: legendary.
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