Did the Baltimore Ravens loss prove the Houston Texans need more help on defense?

It's hard to say that the Baltimore Ravens exposed the Houston Texans' defense as frauds in their playoff victory over the Texas team. The Texans' defense had holes all season but thanks to some clever work by DeMeco Ryans and company, they were able to hide a lot of the issues that may have been a factor. Or at the very least, limit how much of a factor they were.

The team struggled at safety, with inconsistent play from that part of the secondary all season. Not to mention that outside of Blake Cashman, there wasn't a consistent linebacker all season long, though Christian Harris did start to manifest better games as the year went on. A more consistent Harris is going to be key to improving the linebacking corp next season.

Beyond that, the biggest issues the team faced were generating quarterback pressure and getting sacks, something that by the end of the season wasn't a problem. The Texans sacked Lamar Jackson several times, something that is fairly hard to do. Yet, the Ravens rolled the Texans pretty decisively, but does that mean that the Texans' defense needs to be overhauled?

Well, mock drafts are starting to pop up, and for some reason the folks who are running some of them think the Texans should focus on defense throughout the first few rounds. No, a little defensive help, especially in the secondary, is going to be key. Yet, focusing solely on defense?

The Texans' defense shouldn't be in that much need of help, especially if they re-sign guys like Jonathan Greenard and Derek Barnett (to name a few). What they need help on, and was a huge reason why the Texans lost on Saturday to the Ravens, is offensive line help. The offensive line will determine how well an offense does. More so than a quarterback, more so than a running back. More so than a wide receiver.

An offensive line is the key to a successful offense, and the Texans' offensive line in 2023 was bad. Sure, it had Laremy Tunsil, but you'd be hard-pressed to say that the Texans couldn't use upgrades at every other position aside from left tackle.

Focusing on defense in the draft is an overreaction, especially when we saw just how bad this offensive line was all season long.