The Houston Texans are coming off their best game of the season thus far. They may have suffered a loss to the defending Super Bowl champions but the Texans showed up in a big way. No one expected it to even be a close game, let alone the Texans ever have a lead over the New England Patriots. Unfortunately, two minutes is more than enough time for Tom Brady to come back and steal a win. This week, the Texans return to their home crowd and face off against the division rival Tennessee Titans. Here are the week four Houston Texans keys to victory.
Week Four Houston Texans Keys to Victory
1) Attack the Zones
Titans defensive coordinator Dick Lebeau is notorious for his zone blitz defensive scheme. Usually, when a blitz is coming, the quarterback knows he’s got man-to-man coverage somewhere. In Lebeau’s scheme, there’s a zone coverage waiting to either bait the quarterback to throw an interception, or cause him to panic and take the sack.
The zone blitz scheme has proven effective and the Pittsburgh Steelers had a lot of success using it. It’s not unstoppable, however. The trick is to use quick passing plays like slants, curls, or even screens. There were several times in the Seahawks game that the Titans left the middle of the field wide open. This could be a huge opportunity for Deshaun Watson to continue his connection with tight end Ryan Griffin.
The blitzes also usually end up with a linebacker in coverage. The Texans have the speed needed to exploit this type of coverage. A linebacker matched up with Lamar Miller, D’Onta Foreman, or Tyler Ervin could be a disaster for the Titans defense.
2) Protect the Outside
The Titans offensive strength seems to be on outside runs. More specifically, when Marcus Mariota runs the read option. The Texans have been doing a solid job of controlling opposing offense’s run games and should have no problem stopping inside runs. DeMarco Murray and Derrick Henry are no scrubs, though and as difficult as it is to take any attention off of Mariota, those two have got to be contained at all costs.
Murray had a big game on the ground against a good Seahawks defense last week. Including a 75 yard touchdown run, Murray finished with 115 yards on 14 carries. Prior to Sunday’s game, however, Murray was only averaging a little over three yards per carry. If you take away the 75 yard run from the Seattle game, Murray averaged three yards per carry as well.
Henry’s big game was in week two against the Jacksonville Jaguars where he rushed for 92 yards and a score on 14 carries. Henry is averaging a little over five yards per carry and has proven to be an excellent addition to the one-two punch with Murray. If Henry is allowed to get outside and get some space, it’s not going to be a fun day for Houston fans.
Find a Way Through the Line
No question the toughest challenge for Houston this Sunday is going to be penetrating through that offensive line. Tennessee has one of the best offensive lines in the NFL. In week one, the Oakland Raiders pass rush was only able to get one sack with four quarterback hits. In week two, the Jaguars, who had 10 sacks against Houston, only managed to sack Mariota once and hit him twice. Seattle wasn’t able to get a single sack or quarterback hit on Sunday.
If Houston is going to stop the Titans on offense, they’re going to have to find a way to get to Mariota. J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney may need to rotate sides quite often in this one to mix things up. Whitney Mercilus or Benardrick McKinney could have success coming off the blitz but with a banged up secondary, that comes with great risk.
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