The Texans' defense is one of the best in football, but they've put up some clunkers and didn't really get to Patrick Mahomes the last time they faced the Kansas City Chiefs. Which version of the defense will show up Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium. The Drive's Clint Stoerner and Ron Hughley discuss it here.
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00:00As we roll through here, Clint, I said, man, we're going to talk about this defense, and to me, I think the thought for it is who and what defense of the Texans is going to show up, because yes, hey, if that defense that went toe-to-toe and completely took out the L.A. Chargers to the tune of four turnovers and multiple sacks and pressuring and putting
00:29Justin Herbert on the ground, Danico Autry completely embarrassing that young man multiple times.
00:36You're going to get hit hard if you play against us.
00:38I'm sorry, I cannot get that out of my mind. I've watched that about 15 times, him just fully just, I mean, press that young man and then just step over him like he wasn't nothing to get to the quarterback.
00:49Shoot it up like Ty Lue.
00:51Yeah, he sure did. He Iverson'd his ass. He physically threw him down and then Iverson'd his ass.
00:57If that defense, which just took out the run game of the Chargers, and that's what they wanted to do, if that defense shows up, hell yeah.
01:06We've seen that defense before. We saw them tear up the Lions five turnovers and hold them down, even though they ended up losing that game.
01:15But we saw them hold down the Lions. We saw them tear up the Cowboys. We saw them give the Dolphins the business. We saw what they did to the Bills.
01:25But, Clint, as you know, we've also seen what they did to Will Levis.
01:31And Will Levis walked in here and made big plays that he has no damn business making big plays when that defense has the ability to do that.
01:39We saw, Clint, which I think may have been the toughest for you to deal with, what Mack Jones just did in the second half to this defense against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
01:50We've seen them kind of have some up and downs. We saw maybe Drake May in his first start get a little too frisky out there against this defense.
01:59Which defense is showing up? Because it's one thing if we could say they consistently give us outings like they did last week against the Chargers.
02:08But we've seen other things. That's my thing is, which defense is showing up in this game on Saturday?
02:15Well, I think the good defense, to answer the question just bluntly, I think the great defense.
02:22But here's, you've just got to have faith in D'Amico Ryans.
02:28And what has plagued the Texans this year defensively the most has been the explosive play.
02:36It's not like they've been consistently bad against football teams, right?
02:40So I feel like the way that D'Amico's been able to scheme things up with this personnel that's healthy right now,
02:47I think one thing that I'd be comfortable betting on is that Pat Mahomes is not going to be able to sit back there and pat the football and throw the ball over the top of the defense.
02:56Now, he is surgical underneath, and I fully expect Pat Mahomes to get the ball out of his hand.
03:01I expect the screen game to be really good. I expect him to have great chemistry with multiple receivers.
03:06But damn sure Travis Kelsey and keep drives alive.
03:09Oh, thank you.
03:10No problem, Pat. I would be really surprised if we go out there and all of a sudden with this defense,
03:19the explosives are a problem the way that they've been a problem in a handful of games this year.
03:25Because of this particular team they're playing?
03:28Well, I just think D'Amico will have them ready. I think they figured some of that stuff out.
03:32I think both of your corners are playing significantly better ball than they were.
03:36I think your defense from a pressure perspective is, at least according to last week,
03:41they're hitting on all cylinders and playing better than they have in a long time.
03:46I don't know about the team, but I do think you get a better D'Amico, the defensive coordinator, in the playoffs.
03:53Again, I don't know how comfortable I am with this confidence,
03:57but give up an explosive or a couple of explosives or a touchdown over the top, sure, maybe.
04:02But we've seen those things.
04:05The only reason they were even in the game is because they were throwing the ball over the top of the defense's head.
04:10The only reason they had no business being in that game.
04:13I would be shocked if it were one of those kind of games.
04:18I feel like we're going to get to good defense.
04:21Now, what does that defense look like against one of the greatest play callers,
04:26if not the greatest play caller of all time?
04:28Explain, because I want you to do this.
04:31Obviously, with your background, you know what it is.
04:34What we saw last week was, as I said, D'Amico, Autry, embarrassing people.
04:38Will Anderson just coming off the edge, untouched, and he almost killed Justin Herbert.
04:43We saw Daniel Hunter. We saw that line take over the game.
04:47What is it that you think Andy Reid, as a great play caller, a guy that is smart,
04:52because clearly in the first game, we've not really seen the Texans' D-line be slowed up,
04:59especially the edges, the way they were.
05:02Daniel Hunter and Will Anderson had very little impact in that game.
05:06What is it that Andy does that you think makes it different than what the Chargers did?
05:11Well, I think it starts with his personnel.
05:13I mean, you've got three interior offensive linemen.
05:15Now, I know Tooney's not playing interior,
05:18but you've got three dudes in that O-line that ain't gave up a sack all year.
05:21I mean, you've got a stout interior offensive line, and when you have that,
05:25your quarterback can move, your coordinator has a chance to chip and play games
05:29with the defensive ends.
05:31And if you look at last week, how this defense was just so nasty,
05:35was the interior guys were able to make big-time, big-time differences.
05:40We made a lot during the week about the tackles for the Chargers,
05:43but the reality of it is the interior offensive line was trash.
05:47The Texans were able to take full advantage of that.
05:50You had a quarterback that was not willing to use his legs,
05:53which most of us thought, at least I thought he was going to use his legs.
05:56Or hit a check down.
05:58Yeah, or hit a check down.
05:59That's where I was going next.
06:00And you had a young quarterback that just doesn't quite understand how to handle
06:04the level of pressure that was being thrown at him last week.
06:07All of which, by the way, what I just said,
06:09I do not think exists this week with the Chiefs, obviously.
06:13Again, internally, I think they're going to be able to handle our internal
06:17pass rush, which means that our good outside, our big guys outside,
06:21have to win versus their tackles, which is not going to be easy.
06:25And D'Amico's got to scheme some things up to catch Pat off guard.
06:29There's got to be some big-time disguises.
06:31And the reality of it is, I think Andy and Pat,
06:35I mean, I do wonder, you know,
06:37we're going to have this Brady-Belichick conversation at some point
06:41about Andy and Pat.
06:42Like, obviously they're great together,
06:44but I do wonder how much of Andy is true scheme versus Pat just committing
06:50to it and understanding how to execute it and not taking a bunch of risk
06:53and getting the ball out quick and that kind of thing.
06:57Either way you slice it, we've got to deal with both of them,
06:59no matter who gets the credit.
07:03But I think that Andy's got a real – and Pat have a real understanding of –
07:09now Pat will make some stupid mistakes, which I know drives you crazy,
07:11making some ill-advised throws and stuff like that.
07:13But when it comes down to an overall game plan and approach to an offense,
07:17they're not going to get beat because their game plan wasn't worth a damn.
07:20You know, it's just not going to happen.
07:22And so Andy's going to make it tough on his defense from a scheme perspective
07:27and their personnel is significantly better,
07:29particularly on the inside of the offensive line,
07:31than what the Texans saw last week.
07:34Yeah, you could get a sense, and it felt like kind of re-watching that game
07:38the first time, boy everything was so quick, so many misdirection things
07:42and it just frustrated.
07:44You could see it frustrated.
07:45It was like, hey man, we took our first two steps on the pass rush
07:48and the ball's gone.
07:49Or they moved the pocket or there's a jet sweep out of nowhere that comes out.
07:54Yeah, well when you get a team like the Texans who are –
07:56you've heard them talking about up front just being penetrators, penetrators,
07:59penetrators, right?
08:00Well, you're going to run right by runs on that, right?
08:02Andy's not going to sit up there and, you know,
08:06butt his head against – with certain schemes against a penetrating defense.
08:10He's going to pick whichever scheme is really good against a penetrating defense.
08:15Luckily last week the Texans figured out that trap play that Baltimore
08:19just murdered us with because that's what the Chargers tried to do
08:22and it didn't work.
08:23It worked good in the first drive,
08:24but it didn't work real good down the stretch.
08:26And so, you know, Andy's – just take that for instance.
08:30Like Andy's really good at figuring out ways to counter a penetrating defense.
08:37And really any kind of defense, but in this case that penetrating defense.
08:41I think he's going to – whether it's misdirection, like you said,
08:43we've got some guys that chase like scalded dogs, right?
08:47The misdirection stuff is going to be there.
08:49The speed sweep, getting the edge quick is really the only way you're going to get
08:51the edge with DeNeal Hunter and Will Anderson out there.
08:53So he's going to have that in the game plan.
08:55Instead of just giving up on the edge,
08:56he's going to find creative ways to get the edge right now immediately
08:59instead of trying to do it in the run game with your traditional runs.
09:03And so, look, Andy is the best play caller that we've seen.
09:07And so he'll have a nice little setup for D'Amico.
09:11But to me, as you're talking about that, like those are the names that,
09:17from a Texans fan's perspective, you need to hear a lot more of
09:21than you did the first go around.
09:23And I don't think it's all up to them.
09:25I think some of it is design and D'Amico has to do it.
09:28But DeNeal Hunter and Will Anderson are arguably the best defensive
09:35and edge rush duo in football.
09:38They have the most sacks of any duo.
09:40And in the first game, they just didn't impact it very much.
09:44And they've got to find ways to do that.
09:46And in this game, they have got to be more of a factor in this game.
09:50Like, I do think there's going to be some quick stuff.
09:52But as we heard from Matt Nagy, the offensive coordinator,
09:56earlier this week with the Chiefs said,
09:58at some point we are going to have to have our guys go one-on-one in matchups.
10:02And there are going to be some longer drops, maybe not as many.
10:06There are going to be some.
10:08The Texans need those guys to step in and make plays
10:12and be a big impact in those points.
10:15Because if this game goes any way like it did last time
10:18in terms of those guys' impact, they are in some real trouble.
10:23So those guys have got to come through.
10:25If I remember correctly, they allowed Pat, for the most part,
10:28to get the football out of his hand pretty quick.
10:30Now, whether that's design or that's Pat or it's Andy or whatever,
10:34the reality of it is, D'Amico, I would imagine from jump,
10:38instead of coming out and like, hey, let's see how the game goes
10:40and get the feel of the game and we'll adjust accordingly,
10:42I would imagine D'Amico is going to come out there with the –
10:45let's take away the majority of the quick stuff.
10:47Let's make that a priority.
10:48Make him hold the football and see if we can't get him behind the chains.
10:51Take a little bit more risk.
10:52Now, he may hit him over the head.
10:53He may hit him over the top for an early touchdown.
10:55But again, I just think they've got to live and die with that pressure, Ron.
10:59I don't know how the Texans win if they're not applying pressure.
11:03Yeah, yeah.
11:04On the Tex line, Frank said you're going to see that Super Bowl caliber defense
11:09in tomorrow's game.
11:10Well, that is most definitely what they need to see.
11:14More like last week and less like the Tennessee and Jacksonville weeks.
11:18I know for you, and I believe this as well, that D'Amico Ryan,
11:24one thing I – listen, I've said it for years,
11:27he is to me a top five defensive mind in the game.
11:30And he has got some advantages of seeing this team before
11:35and have tape on this team.
11:37Now, obviously Andy Reid has the same
11:40and can completely have a different game plan.
11:42But he's understood what they tried to do to him before.
11:46And I think with his mind, D'Amico will make adjustments in this game.
11:51And that's the thing that I'm curious to see in this game
11:55is what kind of adjustments that D'Amico makes.
11:58Yeah, look, I agree.
12:00D'Amico's been great with the adjustments.
12:02I think, you know, there's a couple of things with D'Amico's defense
12:06that you just can't ignore, right?
12:07I mean, the plus 10 turnover ratio at a time when CJ –
12:10it's not like CJ's out there throwing four interceptions, right?
12:12Like Justin Herbert had three coming into the game.
12:15I mean, CJ's thrown a handful of interceptions
12:17and they're still plus 10 in the turnover ratio.
12:19And the pressure rate, I mean, they're pressuring quarterbacks
12:23at a rate second to nobody in the league.
12:26The ability to – and I don't know exactly what the number is right now,
12:29but the ability to allow the lowest completion percentage in football,
12:35and that's been a stat since mid-year,
12:37it's not like it just happened with a couple of bad quarterbacks.
12:40I mean, it's been an issue all – like those are all things that I would have –
12:44like those are things that Andy and Pat got to deal with.
12:47You know, those are things that, you know, the Chiefs aren't immune to.
12:51So, I think those are real.
12:53And along with your point, you look at D'Amico, his ability to adjust,
12:56hey, this ain't working, what are we going to do?
12:58I think he's really, really good there as well.
13:01So, we'll see how it goes, but I think there's some real positives
13:05to sink your teeth into on this Texans defense.
13:09I think he's going to be super aggressive.
13:11I think – D'Amico?
13:13Yeah, I think he probably – we won't see him sit back more.
13:19I think he'll – I think he may send more pressure.
13:22I think we may see one of those games, which is dangerous, as you know,
13:26the blitzing, especially blitzing of him.
13:28But I think at least he'll pick points where he's going to be more aggressive
13:34and try to kind of speed up Mahomes.
13:37I would think there's going to be a lot of post-snap movement.
13:39I mean, that's the only way you've got a chance against a guy like Pat Mahomes
13:42is to show him something pre-snap and then immediately roll to something else.
13:46Now, that could be – that could just be something as simple as,
13:49hey, we're going to play man defense, but we're going to start –
13:51we're going to show you our corners are eight yards off and appear in the bell
13:54and at the snap they're going to jump anything underneath.
13:57Or it could be completely disguising coverages
13:59and going from a two safety coverage, you know, two on the roof coverage
14:03to a single high safety.
14:05So, I would expect them to empty the clip against the Chiefs,
14:10at least early on until they –
14:12You like that thought against –
14:14Oh, yeah, look, I like it against anybody.
14:16It's just – I mean, it is just significantly more difficult for a quarterback
14:22to process and work post-snap.
14:25I mean, it's – you know, I said it the other day,
14:28I think CJ struggles with it right now.
14:30And look, Pat's obviously better than most at it,
14:32but the reality of it is, is you've got to make him –
14:35you've got to make him process, you've got to make him see rotation,
14:38you've got to make him confirm, right?
14:40Pre-snap I've got a certain kind of look.
14:44If he can just go off a pre-snap read,
14:46then you have zero chance against Pat Mahomes, right?
14:49But as the ball's snapped, again,
14:51it could be something as simple as the corners are jumping
14:53or the safeties are rolling.
14:55You've got to consistently mix that thing up.
14:57Change the picture, yeah.
14:58And a lot of times defenses can get themselves in trouble doing that.
15:00And D'Amico's group, I think they did that last week
15:03in that first drive against Herbert.
15:05Like there were guys out of position, and it didn't bite them for the big play,
15:08but there were guys out of position trying to figure out where the hell to be,
15:11and then they settled in and did a really good job moving forward.
15:14But, you know, that's the balancing act there, in my opinion, Ron,
15:18is you've got to, you know, you can disguise yourself into some problems
15:23versus Pat Mahomes, but you can also, if you do it right and you're good at it
15:26and you're confident in it, then you can maybe get an early pick,
15:30maybe get an early third-down breakup, get a punt,
15:33and have a good field position out of the gate kind of thing.
15:35Get some confidence, yeah.
15:36Yeah, which again, you talk about the first meeting this year,
15:39that's what you did for the Chiefs, right?
15:41You gave that to the Chiefs immediately with the interception on the first drive
15:45and the second drive.
15:46First drive, then led right to a touchdown.
15:47Yeah, so, I mean, like you gave that advantage to them last week,
15:51and can the defense do that for our offense this week
15:53and give us a little bit of an advantage?
15:55Those kind of situations are what it's going to take to get this one.