Mission accomplished.
Houston Texans defensive coordinator Lovie Smith preached takeaways as the salvation for the 2021 squad. Although they were unable to escape their fate of a 4-13 record, the defense gave its all to provide extra possessions for the offense.
The Texans finished with 25 takeaways on the season, tied with the Los Angeles Rams and the New Orleans Saints for the 10th-most in the NFL.
The Dallas Cowboys dominated with 34. The Indianapolis Colts generated 33, and the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots had 30 apiece. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs, last year’s Super Bowl teams, tied for fifth with 29. The Arizona Cardinals had 27, the Green Packers and Miami Dolphins 26 apiece.
All of those teams are in the playoffs, sans the Dolphins who were eliminated in Week 17 and the Saints, who were unable to qualify due to tiebreakers. Nevertheless Miami and New Orleans finished 9-8 with their Week 18 victories coming in convincing fashion.
Even though the Texans merely matched their win total from a season ago — four — they markedly improved in the takeaway department. Through a 16-game season, the Texans generated nine turnovers in 2020, the fewest in the NFL. It was no wonder they missed the playoffs.
However, a defense that lacked J.J. Watt was able to rebound with 25 turnovers.
The Texans don’t have any star players or game breakers such as Watt, which indicates that Smith’s philosophy was effective, and that the all-pervasive talk about “culture” around NRG Stadium must have worked.
If the Texans are able to continue their takeaway production and improve other areas of the defense, such as stopping the run where they gave up 4.6 yards per carry, tied with the Cardinals and Los Angeles Chargers for the fifth-most in the league, then Houston should be in good shape to match their win total over the past two years combined.