The 9-5 Houston Texans can officially enter the postseason on Saturday if they were to beat the 7-7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After defeating the 8-6 Tennessee Titans, all they need is one win to win the AFC South crown for the second straight season.
Though the Buccaneers aren’t playoff-bound, they aren’t an easy task. They have a much-improved defense from seasons prior, have won four in a row and, under Bruce Arians, are quietly boasting one of the NFL’s best offenses for the second year in a row.
If the Texans want to beat the red-hot Bucs, they made need to follow a few keys that members of the team talked about in the week heading into the Saturday matchup.
Romeo Crennel: Put defense in positions to exploit Jameis Winston’s turnover woes
Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston is the epitome of a boom-or-bust player at his position. He leads the NFL in passing yards (4,573) and is second in touchdowns (30). He’s also tops in interceptions thrown (24) and third in sacks taken (43).
Those interception numbers are something that catches the Texans’ eye. Houston’s defense, coached by defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel, is looking to exploit Winston’s chronic turnover issues. How so? They need to make sure their position is down.
“We look at it and see what we think the reason for the mishap is. Sometimes, he and the receiver are not on the same page. He sees one thing, the receiver sees something else and then boom, the ball gets thrown and it gets intercepted,” Crennel said on Wednesday.
“But generally, when he’s on the same page with the receiver, it’s a completion and so I don’t think that you can count on them not being on the same page. You have to do your job, put yourself in position and then if it happens that you have the opportunity to make a play, you make a play.”
Bill O’Brien: Treat the league like it’s week-to-week
The NFL is a week-to-week league. Often, players and coaches will enter a game preaching the 0-0 mentality, which reflects the need to have a lack of a past- and future-thinking memory. In football, one has to think in the present, or else susceptibilities to being gobbled-up arise.
The Texans are no stranger to the week-to-week league thought. In recent weeks, they’ve beaten the vaunted New England Patriots and lost to lowly Denver Broncos. They are only as good as they play on game-time. On Saturday, they will face an unfamiliar opponent.
“I think that this league, if we’ve learned anything this year, that this league is a week-to-week league and I think that every game is different,” Texans coach Bill O’Brien said on Tuesday. “Every single game is different. I think that this game, relative to any game we’ve played this year – like, this game right here, we haven’t played these guys in whatever it is, four years, three years. So, we don’t know much about this team. We’ve got to do a good job of preparing.”
Deshaun Watson: Protect the ball to keep it out of the hands of Jameis Winston
As previously mentioned, Jameis Winston is turnover prone. However, when he’s not throwing interceptions, he’s one of the NFL’s most frightening passers to defend.
The Florida State product isn’t afraid to rip it, leading to his league-high passing yards and second-ranked touchdowns totals. In the last two games (both wins), he’s passed for at least 450 yards.
“Tampa Bay is playing really good right now, playing with a lot of confidence and Jameis (Winston) is putting up a lot of points and a lot of yards,” quarterback Deshaun Watson said on Tuesday. “So, we definitely, especially offensively, protect the ball and try to score points and on defense, try to slow them down.”
The Texans, who have turned the ball over at least once in the last two games, know they can’t let Winston have extra opportunities. While he may turn it over, he also may burn a secondary that, at best, is off-and-on in 2019.
Romeo Crennel: Respect the Buccaneers’ speed, despite their newfound lack of weapons
The Bucs are an injured team. Their offense will not contain their top-two threats on Sunday in Pro Bowl wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. Both are shelved due to serious hamstring injuries.
However, the Texans’ defense can’t nap against the Bruce Arians offense. Tampa Bay, even without their top-two receiver, can still score points, in large part due to the speed on offense, specifically wide receiver Breshad Perriman, who ran sub 4.3 second 40-yard-dashes before the 2015 NFL Draft.
“Perriman, he shows up on the tape,” defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel said on Wednesday. “As your looking at the tape, he’s got good size, got good downfield speed and they throw him the ball as well. So, they had a good stable of receivers and I think probably his role will become more prominent without those guys around and so he’ll be the go-to guy and then we’re going to have to try to get something done about him.”
As the go-to guy for the Bucs in a win over the Detroit Lions last week, Perriman tallied three touchdown receptions.
Perriman isn’t the only speedster on the Bucs’ roster. Receivers Justin Watson and Cyril Grayson each ran 4.4 40-yard-dashes or below before they respectively entered the NFL.
