Sean Payton says Saints getting ready for stout, physical Texans D

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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.”

.@JJWatt on @drewbrees: "He's one of the best to ever do it. He's an incredible player..and a guy who's done it the right way for a very long time." pic.twitter.com/GEEanlgbdh

— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) September 4, 2019

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.