After being crushed by heavyweight QBs, defense should enjoy lighter load rest of way
Beginning with Jacksonville rookie Jake Luton, the quarterbacks the Texans play over the last nine games aren’t nearly as intimidating as the Murderers
Row that’s saddled the defense with an NFLworst 114.5 rating.
Luton, 6-6, 224, is a sixth-round pick from Oregon State who’s making his debut against the Texans on Sunday because Gardner Minshew II has torn ligaments in his thumb. The Texans are 3-0 against Minshew, including their only victory this season.
Before their open date, the Texans played against seven quarterbacks who have combined for 110 touchdown passes and 29 interceptions. Against the Texans, they combined for 17 touchdowns and one interception.
Of the quarterbacks who’ve defeated the Texans — Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Ben
Roethlisberger, Kirk Cousins, Ryan Tannehill and Aaron Rodgers — the lowest rating was 101.3 by Roethlisberger.
The other five quarterbacks had ratings of at least 113.9 against the Texans.
In their last two games, the Texans have surrendered eight touchdown passes — four each by Tannehill and Rodgers.
“They’re very, very talented quarterbacks,” safety Justin Reid said this week on a Zoom conference call. “It’s nothing I don’t want as a competitor.
“Even like Deshaun (Watson), playing against talented quarterbacks makes the game a lot more fun. We’ve just got to figure out a way to end games a little bit more fun.”
Over their last nine games, the Texans play against eight quarterbacks, including Philip Rivers twice. Those eight quarterbacks have combined for 76 touchdowns and 40 interceptions.
The Texans play four quarterbacks who have 10 or fewer touchdown passes. Tannehill (17) and Baker Mayfield (15) have the most.
The only quarterback left on the schedule who has a rating in triple figures is Tannehill (109.8).
If the Texans are going
to rebound from their awful start and win a few games, they need to start at Jacksonville.
Since interim coach Romeo Crennel came to Houston in 2014 to coordinate the defense for Bill O’Brien, he has an 11-2 record against rookie quarterbacks. Before anyone gets overconfident about Luton, remember what Denver rookie Drew Lock did to the Texans last season.
Lock joined New England’s Jacoby Brissett in 2016 as the only rookie quarterbacks to win their starting debuts against Crennel’s defense.
Lock completed 22 of 27 passes (81.4 percent) for 309 yards and three touchdowns. He had one interception and a 136.0 rating in the Broncos’ 38-24 victory at NRG Stadium.
The defense had some tape on Lock, who had come off the bench as a rookie before starting for the first time against the Texans. Luton hasn’t thrown a pass since he played for Oregon State.
“It’s a little bit tough because there’s no active film on him,” Reid said. “You can look at a little of college tape, but he’s going to be a little different than he was in college.
“There’s a couple of things you can rely on about any player getting ready to play their first game. You know they’re going to be coaching him to stick to the fundamen
tals.”
There’s nothing scary about the Texans’ defense. They allow 31 points and 417.6 yards a game, 30th in the NFL. They’re 31st against the run (165.9) and tied for 22nd against the pass (251.7).
Defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver knows what kind of talent the Jaguars have on offense — receivers DJ Chark, Keelan Cole and Laviska Shenault Jr. and rookie running back James Robinson.
The Jaguars will want to run Robinson as much as possible to take pressure off Luton and help him avoid too many obvious passing situations. Rob
inson, who’s sixth in the league in yards from scrimmage, also will figure prominently in the passing game to help Luton.
In their victory over the Jaguars, the Texans played their best defense against the run. Robinson carried 13 times for 48 yards. Minshew threw two touchdown passes and no interceptions.
“It’s going to be interesting,” Reid said. “We’re going to play the first quarter straight, see if we can catch any tendencies, see if he’s doing what typically first-game quarterbacks do, like stare down their targets, (and) see if we can get a better
bead on him.
“In a game like this, when you don’t really have the film to watch, you’ve got to focus on yourselves more. Focus on what we’re going to do and then make the adjustments in the game as they come.”
When Crennel was asked about Luton this week, he wouldn’t disclose his game plan, of course. He did make it clear the best way to approach a rookie quarterback is to try to confuse him.
“Without giving away too much, I know (Luton) hasn’t seen a lot,” Crennel said. “I might try to show him more things than just the straight three-deep zone or two-deep zone because he probably knows what to do against those.”
It’s no secret the Texans need to play the run like they did in their 30-14 victory over the Jaguars last month at NRG Stadium. Unless the Jaguars run effectively enough to keep the pass rushers on their heels, the Texans should be able to generate a productive pass rush against the rookie quarterback.
“Some of the things on the pass rush are rush lanes, and when you have pressure on the quarterback and he’s able to escape, your rush lanes are not what they need to be,” Crennel said. “That’s one area we can improve in — our rush lanes and keeping the quarterback in the pocket.”
There’s no excuse for the Texans not to play their best defensive game against an untested quarterback. Maybe they’ll get their second interception. Or perhaps two.
“We still feel like there’s a chance to turn the season around,” Reid said. “We have a warrior spirit. That’s going to come with everyone buying in (and) stopping the run first, putting them in longdistance situations, and that’s going to allow us to make plays on the ball.”