In their own words: 4 keys for the Texans to beat the Colts

The Houston Texans will host the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday Night Football for a Week 12 divisional tilt. Here is how to beat them, as they said.

The Indianapolis Colts, also known as the Texans adversaries, will visit Houston for a Thursday night divisional tilt with playoff implications on the line.

The Colts, under coach Frank Reich, have had the best of the Texans since the start of 2018, winning three of the last four rivalry matchups, including playoffs. How will Houston stop the efforts of the Colts and regain the crown of the AFC South? The Texans’ own explain.

Play sound football, tackling well, and winning at the line of scrimmage – Romeo Crennel

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The best way to shut-down a good offense? Play good, sound defense.

“We’ve got to tackle, we’ve got to win at the line of scrimmage, we’ve got to run to the football,” said defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel on Tuesday. “All of those kind of things.”

Whereas Crennel stresses basic defensive competence from the Texans, they haven’t quite done that in 2019. Houston is 28th in the NFL in missed tackles (85), per Pro Football Reference, last in pressure-rate (17.8%) and 31st in yards after the catch allowed (1,336).

The Texans will need to see improvement in all areas. Though not a necessarily high-powered offense, the Colts, led by offensive mastermind Frank Reich, will exploit basic deficiencies in the Texans offense, such as tackling.