HOUSTON (SportsRadio 610) -- If there is anything positive to take away from the Texans' 33-16 loss to the Ravens on Sunday, it's the defense showing an ability to get pressure on the quarterback.
J.J. Watt looked like himself, sacking Lamar Jackson twice. Inside linebacker Zach Cunningham also got to Jackson in the backfield, and second-year defensive lineman Charles Omenihu recorded a sack as well.
With Jacob Martin's sack from Week 1 against the Kansas City Chiefs, the five total sacks puts the Texans in the middle of the league in terms of sacks, ranking No. 14.
Getting to the quarterback is something the Texans struggled to do in 2019, especially after losing Watt in Week 8 to a torn pectoral muscle. They finished the season ranking 27th in sacks.
Where the defense still struggles is against the run. Only the Detroit Lions are giving up more yards on the ground than the Texans.
The Chiefs and Ravens both ran all over them.
"It wasn't good enough," Texans defensive tackle Brandon Dunn said after Sunday's loss to the Ravens. "Discipline. A couple guys out of their gap. Just got to be better. It wasn't good enough."
Texans head coach Bill O'Brien acknowledged the run defense is not good, but offered no answers on how it will improve.
Defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver said last week it would improve, but he was more concerned about the lack of turnovers forced.
The Texans got to the quarterback in passing situations Sunday, but couldn't stop the rushing attack from gashing them and failed to force a turnover while giving it away to the Ravens twice.
The run defense was decent in the first three quarters, then fell apart in the fourth.
"I thought we did a pretty good job early on in the game with the run defense and we were doing some things that we wanted to do, and obviously in the fourth quarter we didn't," Texans defensive end J.J. Watt said. "In the fourth quarter we didn't stop the run. We gave up some big runs. The 4–and-one we gave up the touchdown, and then we gave up the long one there. That obviously isn't going to help the run defense or the stats or anything. So got to be able to finish the game, not just start it."




