Texans have what it takes
But can defense slow down Patriots?
After spending two days trying to stop Tom Brady and the Patriots in workouts at the Greenbrier resort, Houston Texans defensive coordinator Mike Vrabel was asked to give his impressions.
“Well, it’s as advertised,” Vrabel said of the Pats offense. “There’s a lot of weapons.”
That wasn’t necessarily a concession by the former Patriots linebacker and three-time Super Bowl winner. Vrabel merely was stating the obvious.
But let’s cut to the chase: The Texans are one team who have the ability to keep the Patriots from scoring a ton of points. They know the secret to defending Brady. Vrabel liked what he saw during the joint practices.
“Yeah, I mean, I think we (have to) figure out if we’re physical, if we’re competitive, if we can play fast and aggressive, if we can get line up to the tempo . . .”
He really didn’t have to finish the rest of the sentence. Last season, during the AFC divisional round, the Texans put a scare into the Patriots. While the 34-16 final score might not indicate as such, anyone watching that game, particularly when the Pats had the ball, will tell you otherwise.
The Texans got to Brady. Romeo Crennel, who still is with the organization (now bumped upstairs into a new position), scripted a terrific game plan. With J.J. Watt injured, he used his best outside rushers — Jadeveon Clowney and Whitney Mercilus — and moved them inside to push the pocket up the middle. It made Brady’s life miserable for the first half and beyond.
The Texans also had a great set of cornerbacks to complement their pass rush and frustrate Patriots receivers. That helped stall the Pats for a time.
This year, the Texans lost their best corner, A.J. Bouye, to free agency. They still have Kevin Johnson, Kareem Jackson and Johnathan Joseph, who are pretty good, so it will be interesting to see in Week 3 how Vrabel’s defense ultimately does in a real test against Brady and company. The point? Whether it’s the Texans or the Falcons, there is a method to stalling Brady and the Patriots offense. Defenses have been effective in the past, with the Giants the prime example in two Super Bowl victories. If you can get to Brady as a defense, you give your team a chance. There are a few teams that have the personnel to do that and keep him somewhat in check this season, even with all of the Pats’ new weapons.
“The recipe to beat Brady . . . you better have two guys that can consistently rush the passer,” NFL Network analyst Heath Evans said. “And you want to play from (ahead), and there’s just not a lot of teams that can do that. And if you don’t have two guys that can rush the passer, you better have a key cog in the middle to push the middle of the pocket to constantly frustrate Brady not being able to step up in the middle of the pocket.”
In the AFC, look to Denver, Oakland and Kansas City. Evans said Pittsburgh also fits the bill.
As we’ve seen in the past, the Broncos can bring the heat with
Von Miller. DeMarcus Ware, now retired, was the bookend at the opposite edge, but they still have
Derek Wolfe and plenty up front with a great secondary in support. The Chiefs also have a number of top pass rushers (Tamba Hali, Derrick Johnson, Justin Houston) and a solid defensive backfield.
The Raiders? They have Khalil Mack as the key cog and disruptor, as Evans put it, along with Bruce Irvin, who will get to the quarterback. We’ll see if their secondary is good enough to hold the fort at the other end.
In the NFC, we saw the Falcons give Brady fits for much of Super Bowl LI because they applied constant pressure, either hitting him or putting him on the ground. Vic Beasley is their big sack guy, but the Pats had more trouble with Grady Jarrett (four sacks). Seattle can do the same with Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril. The Seahawks beat the Pats in Foxboro during the regular season, but Seattle also has that terrific secondary to work in tandem with the pass rush.
Last night’s preseason game with the Texans is one thing, but the better tests for the Patriots offense will come the first week of the regular season against the Chiefs, then Week 3 against the Texans. Will the better defenses in the league have a chance then?
After spending the week with the Texans, knowing their coaching staff and having survived last year’s playoff game, Brady is well aware what they can do and the challenge that awaits.
“They’re a playoff team. We played them last year. They gave us everything we could handle,” he said. “We play them in Week 3. I’m sure they’ll give us everything we can handle then. Hopefully we can score more points than they can.”
La Russa a Bill fan
I had the pleasure of spending some time with former baseball manager Tony La Russa, who was in West Virginia watching the workouts between the Patriots and Texans. La Russa, now a consultant for the Arizona Diamondbacks, was the guest of Pats coach Bill Belichick.
La Russa fondly recalled Belichick visiting him during spring training when he led the Cardinals, and how they’d have dinners together with other sports luminaries such as Bill Parcells, Bob Gibson and John Havlicek, just to name a few.
“You’d go around the room, and the conversation and storytelling, it was unbelievable,” said La Russa, a three-time World Series champion as a manager.
After listening in on Belichick’s media session, which was a little better than the usual gruff routine, La Russa said he was glad to hear people had seen the Hoodie’s softer side recently during the retirement ceremonies of Rob Ninkovich and Vince Wilfork.
“He’s talked about building relationships between the staff and the players. It is a family. To build a relationship, you have to earn their respect and trust. But you also have to show that you care about them. We talk a lot about that,” LaRussa said. “He really cares a lot about them personally as well as professionally. Players like it when you realize they have a life beyond the sport. It’s a hard way to lead because it’s time-consuming . . . but it’s so worth it.”
Broncos in QB limbo
Quarterbacks Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch still are trying to win the starter job for the Broncos. General manager John Elway is OK with not having a clear choice at this point.
“I’ve got confidence in the fact that they’re both young and they’re going to continue with practice to get better,” Elway said Thursday. “Looking at the guys that we had and them wanting to go and compete in practice, they don’t grow on trees. There are not quarterbacks growing on trees out there . ... I like the guys that we have because I know talent-wise they can do it. It’s just a matter of they need the time and experience, and with that, they’ll continue to get better.
“Obviously that position is very, very important. We got better around them to give them better opportunities to be successful, but there are still going to be growing pains. Whoever is the starter this year, there are still going to be growing pains because they’re both so young.”
Firkser Jet sets
Harvard fullback Anthony Firkser, an undrafted free agent, is competing for a job with the Jets.
“Coming from Harvard, a (FCS) program, I didn’t know how it would compare out there with the speed, physicality, size and everything,” Firkser told the New York Post. “I’m doing my best to work every day and get ready and learn the playbook. It’s been a great experience so far.”
Firkser, an applied mathematics major, said he believes his time at the Ivy League school could ultimately prove helpful in finding a place on the team.
“A big part of this is being a student of the game, and that’s helped me prepare for this level,” Firkser said. “Maybe my athleticism might not be top notch like some of the guys here, but just being able to learn the playbook as quickly as possible, be in the right spots, be in the right formation, absorbing the information that the coaches are telling you, going through the academics at Harvard helped me.”