The Houston Texans hope a new NFL season brings a renewed focus on the fundamentals, especially defensively. As Head Coach DeMeco Ryans put it, sitting amongst his team’s impressive haul of 2024 accomplishments. He’s eager to reinforce the basics that propelled their success during a surprise first-place season last year. With a top 10 finish in total defense, the Texans aim to build on their achievements as they approach training camp in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, starting in the first week of August.
On defense, the Texans made a major step forward in 2023, finishing sixth in the NFL in yards allowed per game. Maybe most impressive of all, they came in 14th in points allowed (21.9 avg.). With exciting young pass rushers like Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr. leading the charge, defensive stars took center stage. Hunter accumulated 12 sacks with Anderson coming in a close second at 11. Their contributions were essential in helping to pave the way for other important victories all season long.
When asked what the team’s defensive philosophy will be, Ryans started with a pledge to get back to the basics of fundamental football. In his words, “To me, every year I start from scratch,” further emphasizing the importance of a mindset focused on constant evolution and learning. This do-it-yourself approach has all the coaches faculty equally impressed. During OTA’s, defensive coordinator Matt Burke preached the need to perfect the fundamentals.
“We always like to sort of reset when we come back in the spring,” Burke noted. He told his players to remove all pride and get re-committed to doing your job.
The Texans’ defensive unit showcased their capability last season, forcing significant mistakes from some of the league’s top quarterbacks. In Week 5, the Texans defense went up against Josh Allen. Further complicating matters, they bottled him up and held him to a career-low completion percentage of only 30%. In perhaps their most complete performance of the year, they forced a career high four turnovers from Tua Tagovailoa in their Week 15 game. This even featured three of these as interceptions and one as a lost fumble.
Houston took the league by storm that year, but they were known for their knack of picking off enemy signal-callers. In Week 10, they picked off Jared Goff five times, a career high for him. The Texans were intimidating this year, forcing a league-leading four interceptions. Leading the charge was safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who gobbled up six picks and tied for third in the NFL.
Under the guidance of Ryans and Burke, the Texans are determined to maintain their defensive prowess while emphasizing teamwork and communication among players. Continuity gives Hunter a lot of confidence in this aspect of their game, saying, “We know how each other rush now.” That cohesion will prove invaluable as they look to improve on their record-setting campaign from a season ago and face the storm of adversity that may roll in.
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