The Houston Texans and the Buffalo Bills meet for an AFC wild-card matchup Saturday at 3:35 p.m. CT at NRG Stadium. While pundits across the media landscape have given their keys to the game, here at the Texans Wire, we present the Texans players and coaches providing the keys to beating the Bills in their own words.
1. bill o’brien: earn every yard
“You’ve got to earn every yard you make. They’re very disciplined, they’re very good at what they do. You have to be disciplined. You’ve got to do a lot of things that are basic, fundamental football. You’ve got to take care of the football, you’ve got to really just eliminate mistakes, you have to be able to drive the ball. They just do a lot of things well. So, you have to be very disciplined and you’ve got to really got out there and earn everything you get. They’re a top-five defense for a reason.”
2. Deshaun watson: i can’t commit turnovers
“My turnovers. That’s pretty much it. You take those two turnovers from Tennessee, and then just miscommunication in Tampa Bay, and that’s pretty much it. In the Denver game, we didn’t get too many opportunities in the redzone, but yeah, if I don’t turn two balls over in Tennessee that’s 14 extra points and who knows how the game goes. It’s something that we corrected, but I can’t worry about that and just play football. Whatever happens, happens and we’ll move on from it.”
3. romeo crennel: Contain bills qb josh allen
“That’s a big challenge. We have to do a good job of containing the quarterback as well. If you do a good job of containing the quarterback, then that’ll help everybody along that front.”
4. J.j. Watt: be disciplined rushing bills qb josh allen
“As a pass rusher, your goal is to get home and get the sacks, but at the same time, you also have to be smart about how you’re rushing, especially with a guy like this. So, just being diligent about our pass rush lanes and all of us having a plan together and doing our best.”
5. bill o’brien: tackle well
“We have to do a better job of setting the edge and building a wall tackling. I think that’s going to be a big point of emphasis this week. We’ve got to be able to do that. We’ve done a good job of that at times throughout the year, most of the time, but over the last few games, it’s been inconsistent.”
