Tag: Johnathan Joseph

Johnathan Joseph: Texans win over Patriots ‘means a lot’

On Sunday, the Houston Texans got the upset win, besting the vaunted New England Patriots. Cornerback Johnathan Joseph said it means a lot.

Two weeks ago, the Houston Texans were down in the dumps. They lost a 41-7 beatdown to the Baltimore Ravens, ending any momentum they once had. On Sunday, Dec. 1, they regained that momentum.

The Texans, for the first time since Jan. 3, 2010, beat the New England Patriots on Sunday. For veteran cornerback Johnathan Joseph, that win means a lot, especially with the Ravens loss fresh on the minds of many.

“It means a lot. I think for this team to be atop the AFC South and where we want to be late in the year,” said Joseph post-game. “This win means a lot to this team because we have a lot of young guys, veteran guys, a mixture, and I think we got — I wouldn’t say an up and down season, but a couple games early on we bounced back and then that Baltimore game. And then go out and play the way we did and put two games impressive back to back, I think that means something.”

Joseph, 35, led a young, rebuilt Texans secondary to a 28-22 win over New England, with two of the Patriots’ touchdowns coming against a prevent defense.

The secondary was the star of the show for the Texans’ defense, Joseph included. Tom Brady completed just 51.1% of his passes against Houston. Take away his two garbage-time touchdowns, and his 85.9 passer rating dips to 68.3.

In the win, Joseph tallied four combined tackles and two pass deflections. The secondary got an interception early on, with Bradley Roby — who played for the first time since Week 6 (hamstring) — perfectly reading Brady for a pick to give the offense the ball in the red zone.

Moving forward, the Texans, including the secondary, feel good about their chances with increased confidence coming in Sunday’s win. Next week, they will go from GOAT to rookie quarterback when they face the Denver Broncos and Drew Lock in his second career start.

CB Johnathan Joseph: Texans didn’t do enough defensively against the Ravens

Houston Texans cornerback Johnathan Joseph said that the defense did not do enough against the Baltimore Ravens in a blowout loss.

When the opponent scores 41 points, the presumption is that the defense did not do enough against the offense. On Sunday, that notion is applicable to the Houston Texans defense against the Baltimore Ravens, as they were outscored 41-7.

“We just didn’t execute the defense as a team. When you come on the road in a tough environment, you know it’s going to be tough, but, at the end of the day, we didn’t do enough,” said cornerback Johnathan Joseph after the loss. 

The Ravens recorded 25 first downs to the Texans’ 16 on Sunday. Their 491 total yards doubled the 232 from Houston. On third-down the Ravens converted 56% of their attempts (nine) to 20% from Houston (10).

The Texans could not get off the field. Even worse: Baltimore’s 41 points came after a first quarter in which Houston allowed none and did a relatively good job of shutting down quarterback Lamar Jackson.

“We got off to a hard start on defense,” continued Joseph. “We got two fourth-down stops if I remember correctly and then, I wouldn’t say things spiraled out. But third downs, we had them a couple of times and let them get out. There were several second-and-longs, and they made a couple catch and runs and moved the chains.”

Houston’s defensive performance was one to forget. There aren’t any individual places to point the blame to. The loss was a group effort. The pass-rush couldn’t get to Jackson; the secondary struggled; the run defense wasn’t there; the linebackers were exploited in coverage.

“There were a lot of things throughout the game, said Joseph, “but it wasn’t any one thing in particular other than Lamar Jackson at quarterback.” 

The culmination of a defense that struggled in most areas and couldn’t contain Jackson is their worst loss in recent memory. Luckily, they will be able to shake it off quickly, as Houston plays host to the rival Indianapolis Colts on Thursday.