The Texans defense is looking for a bounce back week and nothing is better than a rookie QB coming to town.
Last week, Whitney Mercilus did his part with an interception and a sack but I’m hoping the rest of the defense shows up as well.
I’m expecting a ton of pressure on Gardner Minshew.
Last Monday, Romeo Crennel tried to mix things up and dropped eight in coverage and only rushed three defenders a good amount last game. I don’t expect that at all this week versus the rookie.
There should be heavy pressure on Minshew. With the pressure you’re hoping for him to make some mistakes and force some turnovers.
Good stat to remember: Romeo Crennel and the Texans are 9-1 when facing the rookie QBs. I would bet that Johnathan Joseph and his crafty ways ends up with an interception this game.
The Texans’ run game was pretty solid last week, having 180 yards on 23 total carries between Deshaun Watson (4), Duke Johnson (9), and Carlos Hyde (10).
To be successful this week, they must keep the same balance between the run and pass game.
Hyde was a man running with some determination; between him and Duke Johnson, you can have a solid 1-2 punch in the backfield.
With Watson you may be a pass first offense, but that opens the run game up for these guys and when it’s successful, it keeps the defense balanced.
We all know how Bill O’Brien loves to run the ball, and to close out games you must be able to run the ball to milk the clock and get first downs when needed.
The Jaguars’ best player on offense as of right now is still Mr. Fournette. He is the focal point of the offense and he will get his touches.
If he gets going, he will be hard to stop. Last week facing the high-flying Chiefs offense, where Mahomes had 312 yards passing at halftime, the Jags had to keep pace and pass the ball around a lot and statistically they didn’t do a bad job.
With all that being said, I still believe they want to run the ball and control the clock, using that to take shots down the field to DJ Chark, Dede Westbrook and Chris Conley.
But if you stop the run, you’re putting a lot of pressure on the rookie Gardner Minshew and making them one-dimensional.
Communication between the linemen, handling the different blitz packages, calling a few quicker passes or screens. These are a few ways you can help Watson stay off the ground.
I don’t care how you do it. Let’s see it get done.
The Texans need DW4 for 16-plus games. Otherwise, they are not the same team. Six sacks is too many, fix this ASAP.
This won’t be an easy task against a top notch defensive line -- and of course a division rival -- but it’s a must.