The Houston Texans escaped the wild card round via a walk-off field goal to put away the Buffalo Bills, 22-19. Though a win, the Texans did not leave without their bumps and bruises.
Quarterback Deshaun Watson, who can largely be credited for the comeback efforts, got beat-up by the Bills. Buffalo sacked him seven times, with most of those coming on blitzes.
On Sunday, the Texans will face the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium in the division round. If they want to move on to the AFC championship, protecting Watson is a good start.
How will do they do that?
“At the end of the day, it comes down to communication, everybody being on the same page, how they see the defense,” Texans coach Bill O’Brien said on Monday. “Our system is very quarterback centered, obviously, quarterback driven, so we’ve all got to be on the same page with how he sees it and we’ve got to do a much better job.”
The Chiefs ranked 11th in the NFL in sacks in 2019, tallying 45. They blitz at a 29.1% rate, lower than the Bills, who did so at a 33.2% rate, per Pro Football Reference.
Expect the Chiefs to send some heat on blitzes. It’s well-known that the Texans struggle to defend them, especially from the second-level. O’Brien stresses that everybody — not just Watson and the line — must be involved to avoid a repeat performance.
“Everybody’s involved,” O’Brien said. “Deshaun’s involved, the line’s involved, the receivers are involved, the tight ends, the backs. Everybody’s involved. It’s not one guy, it’s not one position and we all have to do a better job of coaching it and then we have to have a really good week because the Chiefs – they do a lot of things that you’re going to have to be ready for and so we have to have a great week.”
