The defense saved the Houston Texans’ bacon as they bested the Jacksonville Jaguars 13-12 Sunday at NRG Stadium in each club’s first AFC South game of the season.
The win evened the Texans’ record at 1-1, but bolstered it with that lone win being a divisional win. For the Jaguars, it pushed them down to the bottom of the AFC South and may have kick-started another dysfunctional season.
If not for the play of the defense, there go the Texans.
That is why Barry Werner from the Touchdown Wire listed the defense as being the elite performers from Week 2 for Houston.
Four sacks, TFL and a game-saving stop of Leonard Fournette on a two-point conversion. Whitney Mercilius (pair of sacks, pair of TFLs) and Justin Reid tackle on the conversion attempt.
The two sacks helped Mercilus reach 3.0 sacks on the season, the first time in his career he started a season with as many sacks through the first two games.
Houston will need their defense to produce another elite performance as they take on the Los Angeles Chargers on the road Sunday.
