From injuries to first-teamers to allowing over 362 yards total offense and almost five touchdowns’ worth of points, defensive end J.J. Watt had a succinct summary of the Houston Texans’ effort against the Dallas Cowboys Saturday at AT&T Stadium.
“It was a pretty big disaster,” Watt said.
The three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year was impactful in his limited action, producing two combined tackles, a tackle for loss, and a quarterback hit. Even though the team took on the chin, Watt kept the proper set and frame to the exhibition contest, even if it was the so-called “dress rehearsal” for the regular season.
“You don’t want to lose 34-0, especially to your in-state team, but you also have to look at it with perspective, as well,” said Watt. “It is the preseason, and as difficult as it was — and we are going to learn from it and grow from it — we all know the goal is September 9.”
The Texans open the regular season at the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football. The Saints looked like they had not lost a step as quarterback Drew Brees completed 4 of 6 for 68 yards and a touchdown in limited work.
“So, we need to do what we need to get ready for that game,” Watt said. “But we definitely need to take a good hard look at the film today and get better from it.”
The Texans trailed the Cowboys 27-0 at halftime, and special teams had a costly blunder with punter Trevor Daniel having a punt blocked that Dallas quickly fell upon for a touchdown to go up 14-0 midway through the first quarter. Houston has to evaluate all levels of the film, all three phases, to get ready for the regular season, and the dress rehearsal in North Texas proved they need to correct a myriad of issues before Opening Night.
