Houston Texans: Team has uphill battle to overcome losses in secondary

The Houston Texans had the number one ranked defense in the NFL last year in terms of yards allowed. While they were decent against the run ranking 12th in yards allowed, they were especially dominant against the pass ranking second in pass defense.

The Houston Texans had a phenomenal pass rush and a great system set up by Romeo Crennel that lead to a lot of quick throws from quarterbacks in the face of an intimidating pass rush. All this without J.J. Watt who is due to return this year making our front seven even more formidable.

But two key cogs in the pass defense left via free agency in the form of Quintin Demps and A.J. Bouye. And it cannot be overstated how much those losses have the potential to hurt the team and weaken our pass defense as well as our turnover ratio.

Of the 68 passes defended, Bouye and Demps led the team with 16 and nine passes defended respectively. 37 percent of the Texans passes defended came from those two players. And of their 11 interceptions, six came from Demps (tied for second in all of the NFL) and Bouye only had one but he obviously was a huge contributor in the secondary based on his passes defended numbers.

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The Houston Texans struggled with their turnover ratio, posting a negative seven last year. Obviously Brock Osweiler turning the ball over more than scoring the ball didn’t help that. But the team in total takeaways was 27th in the league with only 17 and we’re losing seven of those turnovers via the air with the loss of Bouye and Demps.

Now obviously some interceptions are just right place right time if the quarterback gets hit and lofts one up where a cornerback or safety happens to be standing. But the losses of these two players is going to hurt that secondary. We still have Jonathan Joseph, Kareem Jackson and Kevin Johnson returning, but who will step up to replace the production of Bouye and Demps?

While drafting up to get Deshaun Watson was a great off-season move, the Texans have neglected maintaining the strength of their secondary and the pass rush will have to continue to get after the quarterback to help the secondary produce more turnovers with rushed throws.

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The tag team of Watt and Jadeveon Clowney should help with that, but the Texans will be in trouble against teams with a stout offensive line that can give the quarterback time. This will not be a secondary that provides a lot of coverage sacks with how much was lost this off-season. The pressure of the pass rush will have to carry the passing defense this season, and hopefully it will. Otherwise we could see the Texans lose their short two year run as division champs.

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