3 ups and 2 downs in the Houston Texans pre-season opener

Defense looked fantastic

These preseason games are hard to evaluate, given that starters may or may not play and if they do, it’s not for long.  But it’s all we have to go on right now and the Texans defense looked for real.  They were flying to the ball and making plays, and recorded three sacks in this game.

They held the Patriots' quarterbacks to only 86 passing yards on 21 total attempts.  The Patriots completed 16 of those 21, which shows the Texans did a great job of tackling and keeping everything in front of them.

The Patriots were only able to manage 78 yards on the ground too, averaging a paltry 3.1 yards per carry, on 25 total carries.  34 of those yards came from quarterback Malik Cunningham in the fourth quarter too.

I have confidence the Texans defense will be the strength of this team and they showed us an early glimpse of what they could be in 2023.  A stout defense will keep this team in contention week in and week out and keep them alive for a possible division title.

Rookies Henry To’oTo’o showed he can play as well, recording five combined tackles and could be a solid middle linebacker for this Texans team that already seems solid and has talent at all levels of the defense.