J.J. Watt knows execution is the key to the Texans defense’s success

J.J. Watt knows the key to the Houston Texans’ defense being successful, and it is simple: execution.

The Houston Texans seek to win the Super Bowl. The goal can’t be simplified any further than that.

The key to the Texans’ winning enough games, and the right games, to obtain that objective comes down to execution. In all of J.J. Watt’s nine previous seasons in the NFL, that is the ultimate factor that determines success.

“We have to go to work,” Watt said. “It’s no different than any other year. Every single year the goal is the same so it’s not like we’re not trying to do those things. In terms of myself and the defense, that’s what we’ve talked about at the beginning. It’s the redzone defense, it’s getting off the field on third down, it’s putting ourselves in good situations by stopping the run early on. It’s the simple things of football that make you successful. There’s no secret about what makes football teams successful, it’s just a matter of who executes that the best.”

Off-field behavior has always determined in some measure the success of any team. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic and the infectious nature of the disease, off-field behavior will be even more critical than it ever was. Contract COVID-19 outside the white lines could not only keep a player out, but it could take out an entire position group.

“In this year, there’s a whole bunch more factors that factor into it,” said Watt. “Which team does the best job of staying healthy, which team does the best job of being responsible and disciplined off the field so they don’t have positive tests and having guys have to sit out. This year is so much different than every other year. That’s going to be just a big of a factor as any.”

The Texans have to execute on the field, but they also have to be mindful off the field, too, if they hope to make January more meaningful.

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