3 factors to watch in Houston Texans versus Jacksonville Jaguars
By Jair Lopez
Get to Gardner Minshew
The Houston Texans did a terrible job of getting pressure on Drew Brees as they focused on dropping defenders back in coverage and it ended up costing them the game.
Per @ESPNStatsInfo: Texans sent 3 or fewer rushers at Drew Brees 16 times, including every dropback on the game-winning drive - 3rd-most 3-man rushes he’s faced in his Saints career. Brees went 13-16 against that in the game, and converted all 6 of his 3rd downs vs. a 3-man rush.
— Ed Werder (@WerderEdESPN) September 10, 2019
Houston will have the opportunity to drop back in coverage with Minshew at quarterback, but they will have to rattle him to win the game. The Texans front seven will have to improve after Whitney Mercilus was the only edge rusher to sack the quarterback in week one. J.J. Watt will be one of the players that can benefit from the Jaguars ruling out offensive lineman Cedric Ogbuehi and Cam Robinson from making the trip.
Texans should have an easier game on paper against the Jaguars after going against Brees and the Saints high octane offense. It will be interesting to see what type of pressure the Texans can get on the quarterback outside of Watt and Mercilus.
Romeo Crennel used inside linebacker Benardrick McKinney to rush the quarterback from the edge, but the Texans will have to rely on their defensive lineman to do a better job of creating pressure on the interior as well.
Texans entire defensive line is due for a bounce-back game, and the coaching staff will have to hope that role players such as Jacob Martin or Brennan Scarlett can step up as well.