(SportsRadio 610) -- No one is going to confuse this Texans defense with the 1985 Bears.
Hell, don't even confuse them with the 2005 or 2006 Bears, coached by Lovie Smith with a Super Bowl appearance.
You can expect there to be a departure from what was one of the worst defenses in NFL history last season.
As it's been discussed, Texans had nine takeaways in 2020, the second-fewest in the NFL since 1980.
Throughout training camp, Texans' first-year defensive coordinator Lovie Smith and players on that side of the ball have emphasized how hungry they will be for turnovers.
For Smith, it's not enough to simply make tackles or get off the field. A good defensive game requires them to force turnovers, and they showed that Saturday night in their first preseason game against the Green Bay Packers.
The Texans' defense forced three turnovers, one interception and two fumble recoveries.
Defensive end Jonathan Greenard, who suffered a sprained ankle in the game, strip-sacked Packers quarterback Jordan Love at the end of the first half.
The fumble was recovered by fellow defensive lineman Jaleel Johnson, who recovered another Packers quarterback fumble in the third quarter.
Defensive back Tremon Smith intercepted Kurt Benkert in the fourth quarter.
"I think overall, defensively, they played team defense," Texans head coach David Culley said after the game. "This defense – Lovie’s defense – is built on basically creating turnovers, getting turnovers. We were able to get a few of those tonight. We were close to getting a few more."
It wasn't just forcing turnovers, though.
One player we were anxious to see going into the game was second-year defensive lineman Ross Blacklock, who showed the athleticism advertised coming out of TCU last year.
Here is our own Seth Payne breaking down one example of this.
"My hope for the #Texans defense this year was to just get back to being competitive and have something to build on next year," Seth tweeted. "Some good signs tonight: Very sound tackling. Pressured the passer without blitzing. Clean game in terms of penalties and mental errors."