Texans ramp up pass rush, assert themselves as AFC contenders

By Jacob Westendorf

Posted on September 18, 2016

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The Houston Texans had to have been thinking about the way their last season ended when they entered the building this week.

Last year they entered the playoffs against the Kansas City Chiefs hoping to prove they belonged despite their mediocre regular season record.

The game was never close. The Chiefs dominated from the opening kickoff and cruised to a 30-0 victory.

This offseason, the Texans spent a lot of money on their offense. Lamar Miller was brought in to replace Arian Foster. Brock Osweiler was brought in to upgrade the quarterback position. Braxton Miller and Will Fuller were both drafted early to give the offense an injection of speed.

With all that money and investment on the offensive side of the ball, the Texans had to have had hope for a high-powered offense.

In the process of all that investment on offense, the defense almost became a forgotten unit.

The Texans have invested a lot in rushing the passer. J.J. Watt has been one of the best players in football since he entered the league. He is a perennial contender for the Defensive Player of the Year award.

In addition to Watt, the Texans have spent first-round picks on Whitney Mercilus and Jadeveon Clowney. Clowney has become a bit of a forgotten man since he was taken with the first overall pick. Injuries and inconsistent play have led some to wonder if Clowney was simply a product of hype due to his big hit in college that put him on the map.

Despite that fact, the Texans still have high hopes for their pass rush this season. During the first two weeks of the season, the Texans’ pass rush has taken over games. They are relentless in getting after the quarterback.

Last week, the Texans’ pass rush was called on to put away the Chicago Bears. After a slow start in the first half, the defense was lights-out late in the game. Jay Cutler spent most of the fourth quarter running for his life. With that, the Texans were able to move to 1-0 before an AFC showdown against the team that eliminated them a season ago.

Last year, the Texans’ offense was horrendous. Brian Hoyer played one of the worst playoff games in recent memory.

Due to that fact, all eyes were on Osweiler and the offense when today’s game began. Osweiler and the rest of the offense struggled, but did enough to get a lead to allow the defense to take over.

The Texans finished today’s game with four sacks and nine hits on quarterback Alex Smith. He was harassed throughout the afternoon. He was unable to ever establish a rhythm to get the Chiefs back into the game. That led to two fumbles that Smith lost, giving the Texans momentum.

Through the first two weeks, the Texans defense has definitely been their strongest unit. Their offense will likely improve once they get a feel for how everyone works together. Osweiler will mature, as will the young receivers.

Their defense, however, is the unit that has to remain the strongest in the AFC. For the Texans to become contenders later in the year, they will eventually have to stop Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger, among others.

As we saw last year throughout the AFC playoffs, a good pass rush can make any quarterback look like a mortal. The Denver Broncos hit quarterbacks early and often. They made Roethlisberger, Brady, and league MVP Cam Newton all play worse than they are normally accustomed to.

That is the type of rush the Texans are going to need in order to assert themselves among AFC contenders. Everyone around the league knows the Texans have Watt. The key to the rest of the season is getting the other guys to step up if Watt is getting a lot of attention from the opposing offense.

Balanced pass rush will free up Watt and make the Texans defense as a whole, better. So far this season they have had six different players record a sack. Early returns indicate this is not simply J.J. Watt and everyone else.

It appears the best defensive player in the league has help around him. That should be a scary thought for anyone that has to play offense against Houston this season.

Texans ramp up pass rush, assert themselves as AFC contenders