The Houston Texans have moved under the radar for most of the season. C.J. Stroud’ s early-season struggles and the team's slow start to the campaign made it seem as if this was going to be a long season for DeMeco Ryans’ troops. Fast forward to today, and they’re riding a six-game winning streak behind the league’s most bruising defense.
Even backup QB Davis Mills was able to hold down the fort in Stroud’s absence because of the defense. And, with the AFC looking as wide open as it’s ever been, it wouldn’t be shocking to see this team rally behind this defense all the way to the Super Bowl.
As pointed out by NFL GameDay on X, the Texans’ defense has logged 17 tackles and created eight takeaways in their last five games. Even so, Coach Ryans didn’t seem happy at all with giving up 20 points in the blowout win over the Arizona Cardinals:
"In that game, defensively, that game was not up to our standard," Ryans told the media. "So there are a ton of things that we can improve upon, a ton of things that we need to get better at, things that we work [on]. We didn't play up to our standard defensively, so we have a lot to go out and improve."
The Texans’ defensive dominance is impossible to ignore
Ryans is talking about a game they won by 20 points. They held the Cardinals’ offense to 307 total yards, 72 of which came on the ground. That speaks volumes about the standard he’s holding his defense to.
After 15 weeks, the Texans’ defense is giving up the fewest total yards per game (209.1) and the fewest points per game (16.3). They rank fourth in both passing yards (176.5) and rushing yards (92.7) given up per game, and they’re the third-best team in opposing third-down conversion percentage at 33.9.
In an era of complex schemes and different coverages, Houston’s defense doesn’t involve much trickery, deception, or complicated schemes. They just line up, hit hard, and never give up on any play.
The Texans don’t control their own destiny in the AFC South, but they should still be a playoff team. And with that type of bruising defense, they will be the last team anybody will want to come across in a win-or-go-home situation, even with Stroud not playing up to expectations.