Colossal cover-up
Loss of franchise player has forced adjustments as teammates try to plug the gap
The defense has ably minimized J.J. Watt’s absence.
The nightmare scenario unfolded in September deep inside the tunnels of Gillette Stadium following the Texans’ blowout loss to the New England Patriots as star defensive end J.J. Watt trudged out of the locker room in obvious discomfort toward the team bus.
Days later, Watt would be declared out for the remainder of the season and placed on injured reserve as his surgically repaired back would require a second microdiscectomy to repair the same herniated disk that required an initial procedure in late July.
Beyond the future of Watt, several immediate questions flashed to the surface.
How would the Texans replace the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year? Was it even possible for a defense to operate efficiently without arguably the most gifted and relentless pass rusher since the heyday of Lawrence Taylor? Could a defense built around Watt’s unique talents discover different ways to stop or slow down opponents?
Midway through the season, life without Watt has been defined by dramatic adjustments for a Texans defense accustomed to his game-changing presence. The Texans are increasingly counting on production from several individuals.
The conversion of Clowney
While the defense is no longer nearly as dominant without Watt, the Texans are hardly slouches on that side of the football.
By plugging in talented former top overall pick Jadeveon Clowney and converting him from a standup outside linebacker into a 3-4 defensive end playing with his hand on the ground and relying on more blitzes from their linebackers, the Texans have done a commendable job for the most part without Watt.
“You don’t replace a J.J. Watt,” Texans defensive line coach Anthony Weaver said. “He’s a once-in-a-generational-type player. The defense as a whole has stepped up. I told my guys if everybody just gets one percent better on our defense. So you’re talking 22, 25 guys and we get 25 percent better as a defense, we’ll be OK. I think you’ve seen that. We miss J.J.”
The Texans are ranked fifth in total defense, allowing 316.2 yards of total offense per game and are ranked second in the NFL against the pass with an average of 190.5 yards per game. Where the Texans have faltered without Watt is against the run. They’re 29th in the league, surrendering 125.8 yards per contest.
Last year while Watt led the NFL with 17½ sacks, 29 tackles for losses and 50 quarterback hits, the Texans finished third in total defense (310.2 yards), third in pass defense (210.4 yards) and 10th in run defense (99.8 yards).
“It’s always tough to replace that kind of production,” Texans defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel said. “You have to depend on everybody to step up their game and try to make plays. That’s been encouraging that we’ve been able to hang in there without J.J.”
Because Watt created so much penetration at the line of scrimmage and was so disruptive, it frequently triggered mass confusion from offenses as they had to resort to double-team and triple-team blocking tactics.
Now, the norm is more one-on-one blocking and opportunities for other players to show what they can do.
“Everybody has stepped up,” Texans owner Bob McNair said. “I think they realized losing J.J. is a big loss. It really hurts in our run defense. They’re stepping up when we need them. That’s what it takes: hard work.”
The emergence of Clowney as a force at the line of scrimmage has helped alleviate the sting of losing Watt for the season.
Although relatively undersized at 6-5, 270 pounds, Clowney has more than held his own while lining up at Watt’s old position on the left side or shifting over to rush from the right end position.
“Yes, we did need that to happen,” Crennel said. “He’s played and he’s produced and has an impact. That does help with losing J.J.”
Clowney has just three sacks, but he leads the Texans with nine tackles for losses and 10 quarterback hits. He has proven to be an extremely difficult blocking assignment, grappling with blockers who routinely outweigh him by 60 to 70 pounds.
After experiencing a myriad of injuries during his first two NFL seasons, including undergoing microfracture knee surgery as a rookie, the former South Carolina star is beginning to fulfill the vast potential the Texans identified when they drafted him and signed him to a fully guaranteed $22.272 million contract that included a $14.518 million signing bonus.
“I think it’s just confidence,” Weaver said. “Having been in this league, when you’re hurt and you can’t do everything you’ve done, maybe you don’t have the success you’ve been used to having, you can lose some of that. I think he’s starting to get that back game by game, play by play.
“Every time he goes out there and has success, his confidence gets higher. If I’m the rest of the league, that scares me. A confident Jadeveon Clowney with his God-given ability could be frightening to the rest of the league. I think we’re just scratching the surface. The sky is the limit for him.”
Mercilus steps up big
Even before Watt got hurt, outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus was establishing himself as one of the most prolific pass rushers in the game.
Mercilus leads all NFL players with 16½ sacks in his last 19 regular-season games and has 19½ sacks overall during his past 20 games, including three sacks in a playoff loss last January to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Mercilus leads the Texans with 4½ sacks this season. The former first-round draft pick from Illinois has 30 tackles, five for losses, 12 quarterback hits, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. He had a career-high dozen sacks last season.
“You just try to build on that,” Texans linebackers coach Mike Vrabel said. “We always talk about your reputation as a player or as a team is really built today and tomorrow, not what you did last week or last year.
“I think he’s taken that to heart and understood that in the run game he can be a physical presence and he’s added moves to his pass rush and trying to set things up. You don’t just throw fastballs every single pitch. You have to change it up.”
Besides the absence of Watt, the Texans lost cornerback Kevin Johnson for the season due to a broken foot. They’ve played without strong safety Quintin Demps since a road loss to the Minnesota Vikings because of a calf injury and middle linebacker Brian Cushing missed two games with a sprained knee.
“We expect the next guy to step up, that’s just the NFL,” Cushing said. “Guys get hurt all the time. We’ve lost a lot of guys over the years, including myself. You can’t feel sorry for each other. You have to go out and do your job.”
No injury has been as significant, though, as losing Watt.
Only Taylor, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, has won the crown for top defensive player in the NFL as many times as Watt.
“Injuries do happen, but look we have lost the three-time Defensive Player of the Year,” Texans coach Bill O’Brien said. “Those are hard injuries to overcome for some teams, but not for this team so far because we have a resilient locker room.”
Even without Watt and Johnson, the Texans have multiple former first-round draft picks on defense who aren’t out for the year. That includes Clowney, Mercilus, five-time Pro Bowl nose tackle Vince Wilfork, Cushing, two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Johnathan Joseph and cornerback Kareem Jackson.
And former second-round inside linebacker Benardrick McKinney leads the Texans with 73 tackles in his second season to rank fourth in the NFL and has recorded a career-high three sacks. Reserve cornerback A.J. Bouye leads the Texans with nine passes defended and has consistently graded out as one of the top defensive backs in the league.
“There’s a lot of No. 1 draft picks on that defense and they play well together,” O’Brien said. “Then you have a guy like A.J. Bouye, who wasn’t even drafted and he’s playing as one of the better corners right now in this league. Things were decent, especially as far as the last game goes. But now we have to build on it and be more consistent.”
The Texans have managed to build a 5-3 record without Watt, achieving a 5-0 mark at home, halfway through the regular season. There’s no small amount of satisfaction in how they’ve handled the huge loss of the best defensive player in the NFL.
“Every guy on this defense takes pride in what his job is,” Jackson said. “We all come together, even with J.J. being out. The guy playing that spot has done a great job.
“We move some guys around. At the end of the day everybody’s responsible for being accountable to go out and execute the game plan. Everybody has been able to do that.”