The Houston Texans were the first victors of wild-card weekend. In a thrilling, come from behind win over the Buffalo Bills, the Texans surged to leave their hometown crowd happy with a 22-19 overtime win and move on to face the Kansas City Chiefs next Sunday.
While it was the offense (largely Deshaun Watson), that willed the Texans to victory, let’s take a gander at what the defense did on Saturday to help get the win. The re-addition of a certain three-time Defensive Player of the Year was certainly felt.
Defensive line
It took a while for the defensive line to muster up anything, but midway through the third quarter, they finally got going. Well, J.J. Watt did in his return from a torn pectoral.
Watt’s only sack was a momentum-swing one, as the Texans responded to it by scoring 19 straight to ultimately win in Houston. Defensive tackle D.J. Reader also did a good job against the run, as he typically does.
However, outside of Watt and Reader, the Texans’ defensive line play was sub par at best. When the Bills figured out how to contain Watt, Josh Allen had all the time to throw. When they ran opposite of Reader, they gashed the Texans’ rush defense. The two stars give Houston a passing grade.