Texans vs Packers Review: Defense
The Texans did not play like an undefeated team on Sunday night against the Packers. They played like the 2010 Texans which were the laughing stock of the NFL.
The Texans had the chance to separate themselves even further from the remainder of the division, and potentially put a nail in the Packers coffin by handing them their fourth loss of the season, but they were outplayed from the first whistle.
The offense should take a little bit of the blame, but no offense should ever be expected to score more than 42 points to win a game. The defense was abysmal and sloppy from beginning to end and it showed on the scoreboard.
Oct 14, 2012; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt (99) shows emotion during a game against the Green Bay Packers in the third quarter at Reliant Stadium. The Packers defeated the Texans 42-24. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-US PRESSWIRE
Front Seven
J.J. Watt had two sacks this week giving him the league lead back after he had one stricken earlier this week. Now that we have run out of good things to say about the front seven we can move on to the plethora of bad.
The defense couldn’t stop the run in the first half and late in the second half. On obvious rushing downs the defense looked out of sorts and the lack of Brian Cushing was evident.
Connor Barwin is not without a share of the blame as well for failing to wrap up on two separate occasions in sack situations, which led to two completed passes by Rodgers.
The worst part of the game was the constant flow of penalties. On five occasions in three separate drives the Texans committed a penalty that kept the Packers drive alive on either a failed third down attempt or in one case, a punt on fourth down. All of those continued drives led to Packers touchdowns resulting in at least a 17-point swing in favor of the visiting team.
The Texans are one of the leagues least penalized teams and they proved tonight that they need to retain that title in order to win games because no team is good enough to beat a team in this league if you give them second chances.
Oct 14, 2012; Houston, TX, USA; Green Bay Packers wide receiver Jordy Nelson (87) catches a pass over Houston Texans cornerback Johnathan Joseph (24) for a touchdown during the first quarter at Reliant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Campbell-US PRESSWIRE
Secondary
There are no positives here. Johnathan Joseph was bad, Kareem Jackson was bad, the only defensive back that did anything decent was Alan Ball by making a decent open field tackle on a punt return.
Aaron Rodgers is a phenomenal player and a former MVP, but the Texans defense looked ridiculous on Sunday night as they gave up six touchdown passes. It is impossible to win in this league and give up that many points, and if the defense doesn’t get their act together soon we may not have much to talk about when the playoffs come around.
Special Teams
Donnie Jones played well again with the only complaint being that he outkicked his coverage on one of his punts. Other than that he was his usual consistent self.
Shayne Graham made a 51-yard field goal with a few yards to spare which was a welcome sign for most Texans fans who weren’t sure of his leg strength.
Keshawn Martin had the longest punt return thus far for the Texans which was a patient 19-yard return. The fact that a 19-yard punt return is newsworthy should help you understand just how much of a blowout this was.
Finally the coverage team continued to look bad and gave up about a 45-yard kickoff return to Randall Cobb to open the second half.
If the Texans continue to put forth this sort of lackadaisical attitude they will not win many more games this season. Hopefully this will serve as a wakeup call.