The Houston Texans have been demoralized all throughout 2021.
After the club hired Nick Caserio as general manager, the Deshaun Watson trade rumors began. When the club hired David Culley as coach, there were questions as to how effective a 65-year-old rookie coach could actually be.
With the departure of three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt due to salary cap reasons, and the paucity of draft picks, which didn’t start until Round 3, there have been big questions surrounding Houston’s roster.
The consensus is the team will be more in contention for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft than a playoff spot.
However, if there is one aspect of the game that can pick the Texans up quickly, is their defense’s ability to procure takeaways. Houston’s defense grabbed four — three interceptions and a fumble recovery — in their 20-14 win over the Dallas Cowboys Saturday night at AT&T Stadium in their second preseason game.
“What happens when they get those turnovers, man, there’s such a big psychological thing for our offense,” Culley said. “The first one tonight, we end up getting a short field. The positive thing about that was, which we haven’t always done in practice, when you get those turnovers, and you get the turnover we got to start the game, you have to get a touchdown, and we were able to do that tonight.
“That’s why those things are so important. Again, we’ve been that way all training camp. It’s starting to show. We’ve just got to continue to get better and more consistent to keep creating those.”
It isn’t just the defense’s ability to get takeaways as it is the offense’s ability to protect the football. The Texans didn’t give away a free possession against Dallas.
Said Culley: “You get four turnovers and you don’t turn it over, there’s a pretty good chance you’re going to have a good chance to win the football game. That’s what they’ve been preaching all training camp. They’re doing a good job with it back there in the secondary and, again, a lot of that has to do with what’s happening up front. The pressure that the up front people put on and it all works together.”
If the Texans’ recipe of scooping up turnovers while protecting the football is consistent throughout the regular season, Houston should be able to compete in every game of their 17-game schedule, not just be a sure W on their opponents’ schedule.
