ARLINGTON -- No one is ready to crown the Texans after just two preseason wins against the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys.
It cannot be stressed enough how little should be made of the final score in a preseason game. But the devil's in the details, and plenty can be learned about the football team any time they play.
With that said, here are some takeaways from the Texans' 20-14 win over the Cowboys in Saturday night's game at AT&T Stadium.
Defense's renewed focus on turnovers is not just lip service
They've talked about it so much on this side of the ball, it almost sounds like a broken record. See ball, get ball. Think less. Use your instincts. Do your job and trust your teammates to do the same.
We have heard all of this since camp started and now, after two preseason games in which the Texans have forced seven turnovers, it's starting to look legitimate.
They turned over the Packers three times, then topped that performance against the Cowboys with four takeaways.
This would be a welcomed sight in any context, but especially when you consider the Texans forced only nine turnovers in 2020, which was the second-fewest in the league since 1980.
A defensive line we can respect
This is the first season of Houston's post-J.J. Watt era and I have to say, it looks pretty damn good.
Charles Omenihu, playing in his hometown the day after his 24th birthday, had two sacks and a fumble recovery. Jacob Martin was the one to force the fumble.
Maliek Collins appears to be the defensive tackle the Texans have been looking for since they decided not to pay D.J. Reader.
Rookie Roy Lopez, who got to Cowboys quarterback Ben DiNucci in the fourth quarter for his second sack in as many games, continues to validate training camp hype surrounding him.
Not to mention Ross Blacklock looks more comfortable than in his rookie season. Vincent Taylor and Jaleel Johnson are getting push and providing depth, at least for now.
Safety Lonnie Johnson Jr. probably put it best after the game.
"It’s a big difference," Lonnie said. "It’s a big difference, man. These guys are getting back there. That’s helping us. ... It’s like it’s no dropoff."
Speaking of Lonnie Johnson Jr. ...
I have no idea what his potential is at safety, but it's undeniable having someone with experience at cornerback and a nose for the football in that position is a good thing.
Johnson spoke after the game about how playing corner -- particularly being able to recognize routes quicker -- combined with using his vision, is a plus in the positional transition.
And there he was Saturday night, in the right place at the right time, ready to take a tipped pass back to the house for six.
Justin Reid and Eric Murray still project to be the starting safeties, with Johnson spelling them and maybe at times on the field at the same time.
Lonnie, though, could be playing his way into more time on the field.
It's still not a good running game
Neither team ran the ball great Saturday, but the Texans especially still need a lot of work in this area.
The offensive line isn't getting the push up front, or creating holes for the running backs to work with. It's more difficult to evaluate the running backs when they really have nowhere to go.
Mark Ingram seemed fine in his Texans debut.
The left side of the offensive line is going to look amazing once Laremy Tunsil and Tytus Howard are together holding it down.
Call me skeptical of Charlie Heck and Max Scharping being the answers on the right side. The Texans' depth at center behind Justin Britt is also a reason for concern.
I asked Mark Ingram, who did not play in the Texans' first preseason game at Green Bay, how he evaluates himself with limited reps and a line that's a work in progress.
"You have to be able to learn how to grow, how to take criticism and continue to grow your strengths and weaknesses," he said. "With limited reps, you have to make sure you’re executing at a high level, that you know your assignment, that you feel like your body is moving well. I was excited to be out there today with my teammates. I was excited to be able to punch the run in for a touchdown for my team.
"I’ll be able to evaluate my other runs to see if my reads were good, see how I was moving, how I was cutting and continue to improve and attack this week to try to get better."
There were some issues on third down
Who knows how impressive the Texans could have been if they had simply converted a single third down?
Their lone fourth-down conversion led to Mark Ingram's first quarter touchdown.
But the Texans were 0-for-10 on third down, unintentionally making punter Cam Johnston and placekicker Ka'imi Fairbairn two of the game's stars.
Texans head coach David Culley said after the game it appeared the Cowboys threw a few more blitzes than what they saw in Green Bay.
"We knew that could possibly happen, and I think it disrupted us a little bit," Culley told me after the game. "But for the most part, it’s going to be that way. We’ll get better at that. When we go back and watch the video and see what needed to be done, it usually goes back to somebody not doing their job and not doing what they needed to do."
What's really frustrating about the failures on third down is that most of these were of manageable distance between the sticks.
It gives some credence to Culley's theory that his team just did not handle blitzes well.
The first six third downs the Texans faced were with five yards or less to move the chains.
It wasn't until rookie quarterback Davis Mills was sacked almost midway through the third quarter when they finally faced a third-and-long. And that was the only time they faced longer than 3rd-and-6.
This shows the Texans were moving the ball, but have to do a much better job picking up pressure.
"Dallas did a good job disguising some of their looks," Mills said after the game. "But, that gives us a ton of really good practice for moving forward going into the season. Communicating with the line and protection, just making sure we are on top of everything.
"I think, like I said, seeing some different things different ways. I think Dallas mixed it up a little bit, but I think we can still just go out there and execute, do our jobs."
Brandon Scott manages digital content for SportsRadio 610. Follow him on Twitter @brandonkscott.
Listen to Houston's sports leader now on Audacy and shop the latest Texans team gear.