Why the Texans can beat the Patriots
By Josh McSwain
Jadeveon Clowney and Whitney Mercilus
Long gone are the days of exasperated fans clamoring for Rick Smith to be tossed out the doors for taking such a huge “bust” in defensive end Jadeveon Clowney. Take time to put on the film of Clowney during the 2016 season. You’ll clearly see the domination and disruptiveness, unless of course you are a blithering idiot like Charley Casserly.
Clowney has stepped up in a major way, and the stat numbers alone do him no justice. While tied for second in the NFL with sixteen tackles for loss, he has only rung up six sacks. He has played such a huge factor in disrupting offensive game plans and taking over two (sometimes three) blockers at a time. That frees up the other rushers to have one on one matchups.
Enter Whitney Mercilus. He reaps the benefits of having excellent hands to fight off blocks while enjoying single blockers. In Mercilus’ last two playoff performances, he notched five sacks, six QB hits and a combined fifteen tackles, including six tackles for losses.
You’d be hard pressed to find a bookend duo playing at a higher level than Clowney and Mercilus in the entire NFL. The pair will have to come up big for Houston to have a shot at advancing.