Houston Texans: 3 Takeaways From Week 1 Preseason
By Mitch Hill
2. Lovie Smith is the right man for the job as Defensive Coordinator
The newly acquired Lovie Smith showed why he was the right candidate to choose to lead the Houston Texans defense for the 2021-22 season and beyond. While many people look at the preseason as games that do not matter, coach Smith’s defense showed Texans fans why these preseason games do matter.
The Houston Texans defense in the matchup against the Packers set the tone regardless of the personnel on the field, suffocating the Green Bay offense for only 242 yards of production. This defense forced three turnovers; a fumble recovered by Jaleel Johnson in the 2nd quarter, another fumble recovery by Johnson in the 3rd quarter, and an interception from cornerback Tremon Smith in the 4th quarter of the game.
The former head coach of the University of Illinois and Chicago Bears had the Houston Texans defense ready to play. Smith showed that he is not afraid to bring pressure to opposing offenses regardless of the situation.
This constant pressure allowed Houston to take control of the game- minimizing Green Bay’s ability to run the football. This transformed into Green Bay’s offense becoming one-dimensional and ultimately helped the defense get after the quarterback with two sacks from the Texans.
If Lovie Smith can continue to bring this pressure and consistency to the Houston Texans with their defense, look for the defensive side of the ball to have a major improvement from that of the Texans’ defense last season.