Monday night in the Superdome is inching closer and the Saints are preparing for a tough week 1 match-up against the Houston Texans. The 2018 AFC South champs have an up and coming young quarterback leading the offense and a defense that’s been one of the best in the NFL for a while.
“They’re very, very technique sound,” said Saints head coach Sean Payton about the Texans D. “They’re an extremely stout defense. You see their rushing numbers. It’s a physical defense and I think its coached extremely well.”
Houston defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel’s group allowed just 82.7 yards per game a year ago, which was 3rd best on the NFL behind the Saints & Bears. Their pass defense was near the bottom of the league though, giving up 260.4 yards per contest. New Orleans finished just below that at 268.9 passing a game.
The main man of that Texans defensive attack is J.J. Watt. The 30 year old has been hampered by injuries recenlty , but was healthy all of last season tallying 16 sacks, 18 tackles for loss, 25 hots on the QB along with 7 forced fumbles and 4 passes defended.
“He can get on an edge, he can beat you with his feet,” explained Payton. “He’s got great stamina, so you know you’re going to be in for a battle all-day long. All those things whether he’s lining up inside or outside make him challenging to play against.”
The Saints are aiming to win their first season opener since 2013. They are 2-2 all-time against the Texans in the regular season. Each team has won the games played on their home turf. Kick-off in the Mercedes Benz Superdome comes at 6:10pm Monday on WWL Saints radio.
