(SportsRadio 610) - Three weeks ago at NRG Stadium, things were looking bleak for the Texans following a disastrous 36-22 loss to the Cleveland Browns.
They’d turned belly-up and were stomped on by five-time Pro Bowl receiver Amari Cooper and a 38-year-old quarterback that was more concerned with auditioning for gigs to talk about football rather playing it.
Cooper torched the Texans secondary for 265 yards on 11 catches, including two that went for more than 50 yards and two touchdowns. Flacco spun it 42 times in the game, completing 27 passes for 368 yards, with both of his touchdown passes going to Cooper.
On the day, the Texans allowed six plays in the pass game that went for at least 18 yards.
Texans defensive coordinator Matt Burke didn’t have to remind the defense what Flacco, Cooper and the Browns offense did to them just three weeks ago.
“Everyone kind of knew coming in, ‘Hey, we can’t play like that again,’” Burke said. “Obviously, if he’s breaking records again on Saturday, it’s going to be a long day for us.”
While the Texans say they’ve managed to clean up some of the communication issues, improve technique and have learned to execute some calls better, Burke is also encouraged by the idea of having some key pieces back defensively that they didn’t have during their Week 16 loss.
“Hopefully, we can get some guys back that can help us play a little bit cleaner,” Burke said. “We did a good job in the run game. Obviously, in the pass game, we need to take away some of the explosives and big plays that we gave up, so whoever is playing for us, that’s going to come back to working our techniques, playing the calls that we’re calling, executing what we need to execute.
“It’s a new game. They’ll have some new players, they have some new pieces moving in and out, so we’ll see how it lines up on Saturday.”
The Texans will have one major piece back for certain on Saturday and that’s quarterback C.J. Stroud.
However, defensively while things are in limbo with edge rushers like rookie Will Anderson, Jonathan Greenard and Jerry Hughes, all of whom are dealing with varying severities of ankle issues, they will have their best coverage linebacker, Blake Cashman back in the fold, which they had to make due without three weeks ago against the Browns.
Will Anderson was ruled out before the game with an ankle injury, while Greenard left the Browns game early with an ankle injury, playing in just three defensive snaps. Jimmie Ward was lost for the season just four snaps into the game with a quad injury and while Steven Nelson played the majority of the contest, he was hobbled early with foot injury and the steady and reliable Maliek Collins played just fifty-seven percent of the defensive snaps as he battled a hip injury.
As the season appeared to be crumbling before them with players dropping like flies, the Texans got some help around the league that day from the Falcons and Buccaneers, who beat the Colts and Jaguars respectively, keeping the Texans very much in the hunt.
Now, while it might be a mixed bag, with some healthier bodies returning and some still in doubt, the AFC South Champion Texans are at least feeling like they can square up for a fair fight in round two against the Browns.