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- Smith challenges Warner to go big in India
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Defense, Improving Brock Osweiler Make Texans a Dangerous Playoff Opponent
- Updated: January 8, 2017
The Houston Texans entered Bizarro World at the onset of the NFL’s postseason.
J.J. Watt isn’t needed to field a dominant defense, and quarterback Brock Osweiler is no longer holding back the Texans offense.
When Houston hosted the Oakland Raiders on Saturday at NRG Stadium to open the playoffs, a war of attrition was supposed to occur. Instead, the Texans captured an impressive 27-14 victory thanks to a complete team effort.
In many ways, this Houston squad will invoke comparisons to last year’s Super Bowl champions, the Denver Broncos.
Like the team that last hoisted the Lombardi Trophy, the Texans are built around the league’s No. 1 defense and an offense viewed as below-average due to subpar quarterback play. Plus, Osweiler’s addition to this year’s Houston squad comes on the heels of his playing for the Broncos a season ago.
This formula makes Bill O’Brien’s team dangerous.
Even in an offense-driven league, the Broncos proved an aggressive defense with just enough help from its offense can still win a championship.
For the Texans, they don’t feature two future Hall of Fame pass-rushers in Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware, but their duo isn’t far behind.
After dealing with injuries the last two seasons, former No. 1 overall pick Jadeveon Clowney shirked the bust label. Earlier in the week, the South Carolina product was named to his first Pro Bowl and earned second-team All-Pro honors.
His outstanding play continued into the postseason where he experienced his Watt moment. Clowney set the tone for the game with an acrobatic first-quarter interception that led to the Texans’ initial touchdown, as the NFL showed:
Tipped.Tipped again…PICKED!Oh my, @clownejd! #OAKvsHOU #NFLPlayoffs https://t.co/JaXiRv1PP1
— NFL (@NFL) January 7, 2017
The uber-talented edge defender couldn’t wait for Saturday’s contest, knowing he’d get a chance to rush an untested rookie quarterback in the Raiders’ Connor Cook.
“That’s great, I hope we blitz him all game,” he said Wednesday, per NFL Network’s James Palmer.
One can imagine Clowney’s preparing like the Predator: lying in wait, ready to pounce on his prey. Once the lights went on, he played like an unstoppable alien warrior, too.
His traditional stat line won’t impress anyone. Clowney finished with one tackle and two pass deflections (including his interception). This proved to be another case where the box score doesn’t come close to telling the entire story.
According to Pro Football Focus, Clowney graded as the game’s best player and contributed four quarterback hurries. In short, he made Cook’s life a living hell.
“He’s really stepped up and made a bunch of big plays for us,” O’Brien said, per the Texans’ Twitter feed. “It has to continue.”
As good as Clowney can be, his bookend, Whitney Mercilus, is even more productive.
The former first-round pick registered 19.5 sacks over the last two regular seasons, and he came to play Saturday.
Mercilus amassed seven tackles, three tackles for loss, a pair of sacks and two quarterback hits. He also registered four more defensive stops, per Pro Football Focus’ Nathan Jahnke. With this pair terrorizing opposing quarterbacks, Watt’s absence hasn’t been debilitating. The Texans can still create pressure on a consistent basis without the game’s best …
