INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The Houston Texans defense is the type that reminds observers that even the most otherworldly men opposite this unit are mortal after all.
Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert put together a drive in the third quarter of Saturday’s 20-16 Texans win that, in any other scenario, probably would have demoralized his opponent, vaulted him into MVP contention (I can argue he’s there, anyway) and perhaps stalled Houston’s playoff-clinching evening a little longer.
Herbert converted a third-and-14 with a scramble that sent some of the NFL’s best defenders bouncing off of him, then somehow stayed upright on a hit on a subsequent third-and-6 before firing an 8-yard throw up the middle. His touchdown pass a couple of plays later to a wide-open Oronde Gadsden, which made this a one-score game, looked simple by comparison.
There, things may have swung toward Los Angeles for the first time all game.
But no, there are few powers higher than this Texans defense, after all. Let standout safety Jalen Pitre sum it up.
“God is the greatest,” he said postgame with a good-natured smile. “The Texans defense is probably second.”
The Texans are on an eight-game winning streak and will be in the postseason for the third consecutive season, this year thanks in significant part to a defense that entered Week 17 at No. 1 in success rate, No. 2 in pressure rate and perhaps most importantly, No. 1 in points per game (16.6), according to TruMedia.
“Everybody really wants to win, play in and play out,” added Pitre. “… The injuries that a lot of players on our team had on the defensive side, Azeez (Al-Shaair) and Kamari (Lassiter), guys are fighting through things that people don’t even know about, but they’re still going out and executing. Everybody wants to win really badly. When you’ve got guys like that, that’s putting it on the line, it’s hard to not want to give your best like them.”
After Herbert’s hero-ball scoring drive, the Texans offense stalled after just five plays to give him the ball right back early in the fourth quarter. Again, Houston’s defense held, adding to their eight total tackles for a loss in Saturday’s game and not allowing Herbert and the Chargers offense to cross their own 21-yard line. Ultimately, Herbert brought L.A. within 4 points, but with only 3:32 left to play, all Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud and the offense had to do was salt the game away.
Now, let’s be clear: This win was not a given.
As they have all season, the Texans offense struggled to find a rhythm or even stay very efficient. Their start on Saturday, though, was close to perfect. Stroud hit two explosive pass plays for touchdowns on Houston’s first two possessions, including one on the third play of the game. That was a beautiful third-and-1 deep ball to rookie receiver Jayden Higgins on a route that veered inward toward the middle of the field. On the next drive, Stroud hit another rookie, Jaylin Noel, on a similar but shorter concept from the opposite side, again attacking the deeper middle of the field, this time for a 43-yard touchdown.
It was the first time all season that the Chargers defense had allowed multiple passing touchdowns of 30-plus yards in a game, and they’d only allowed a total of two all season.
From there, though, L.A. adjusted its coverage to get cloudier across the back end and diversified the pressure on Stroud, including smartly designed blitzes that encouraged the third-year quarterback into mistakes.
On one missed opportunity, Stroud had running back Woody Marks mismatched to his benefit against defensive lineman Odafe Oweh in coverage down the sideline, but it was a trap. The Chargers sent two blitzers at Stroud while confusingly dropping another defensive lineman, Khalil Mack, into coverage over the top of Stroud’s underneath outlet receiver, who could have coaxed him off the Marks read if open. That was one of the eight third-down plays with 4 yards or more to gain that the Texans failed to convert during the game.
Stroud got lucky with a penalty on a third down in the game’s closing minutes that nullified a sack. He also threw two interceptions. Yet thanks to the defense, the Texans held control for most of the afternoon.
Still, you won’t see any pointing fingers or one-sided exasperation from a team that seems about as connected as it gets. Linebacker Al-Shaair, who clutched the ball he intercepted in the second quarter in the crook of his arm while speaking at his locker postgame, reminded everyone that the defense gave up a late touchdown, so every piece of the Texans team had to do its part in the end.
“Man, tenacity of the team,” he said, “I’m talking about, (the offense) went up 14-0 early, real early, so they helped us out. Then at the end, defensively, we gave up a touchdown. If it wasn’t for the offense driving and getting that first (down), we didn’t have to touch the field again. … Our team is like that, not just the offense, not just the defense, but the team.”
On the outside, this Texans defense is fearsome and fundamentally sound. They hit so hard you can almost hear it up behind the glass press box windows and through the roar of the crowd. They miss few tackles, they draw no quarter and they sure hit the quarterback. They sacked Herbert five times and had 15 pressures. Week after week, they have been relentless, no matter the opponent.
On the inside, it’s a joyful group that has been infectious and buoying for the entire team.
“When you get to this level of football, you’ve been through college, you’ve been through high school. … When you get to the pros, you can become kind of worn-out emotionally from the business side of things,” said Al-Shaair, “so the best way I can describe (this) is like when you were playing high school football with your guys. That’s the best way I can describe how it feels out there. Every day, whether it’s at practice or the meetings, it just feels fun.”
Azeez al-Shaair (0), K’Von Wallace and the Texans are riding a wave of fun, and a nasty defense, into the postseason. (Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)
They hope it’s enough. Certainly, the team, led by head coach DeMeco Ryans, sees ample talent on the offense between the longer-tenured players like Stroud and receiver Nico Collins, who has a third consecutive 1,000-yard season and caught a 19-yard dagger of a pass on the Texans’ final drive to help close out the game.
There’s also clear faith in some of the up-and-coming young players. The two rookie receivers, Higgins and Noel, each had a touchdown on Saturday, and Marks, another rookie, continues to show such promise despite a nagging ankle issue. He’s recently been joined by another young running back with a spark, Jawhar Jordan. The two combined for 107 rushing yards on Saturday, although building and sustaining consistently successful drives between the run and the pass remains elusive. Houston’s offense had just a 39 percent success rate against the Chargers and entered the week No. 24 in the NFL in the metric, according to TruMedia.
The Texans believe everything will continue to come together for the offense, and meanwhile, they are getting an incredible lift from the defense. In the playoffs, anything can happen. Houston will again get to take its best swing.
Here’s one more warning to the rest of the teams playing after Week 18: These guys hit freaking hard.