HOUSTON — The Tennessee Titans’ toothless offense seemingly provided the Houston Texans with the ideal opponent to transition into life without All-Pro defensive end J.J. Watt, their three-time Defensive Player of the Year who is sidelined following a second back surgery.
But instead of riding roughshod over Tennessee, the Texans caught a glimpse of how difficult things might be in building an effective pass rush with Watt on injured reserve.
Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota was just shy of being deemed effective in the Texans’ 27-20 victory on Sunday at NRG Stadium, but the lack of heat the Texans applied to Mariota shone a spotlight on just how vital Watt was defensively.
After recording 10 sacks and 23 quarterback hits through the first three games of the season, the Texans dropped Mariota only once and hit him just four times. Mariota still completed less than 50 percent of his passes and tossed his fifth interception, but the Titans rallied from a 14-point deficit in part because the Watt-less defensive front routinely failed to make Mariota feel its presence.
“Yeah, it’s unfortunate that J.J. is down, but that’s defense,” said Texans linebacker Whitney Mercilus, who finished with seven tackles and one hit on Mariota. “We still have to play ball. We went out there and did that. At times we gave up too many points, which we can’t do. But we have to get some things corrected. It wasn’t pretty, but we toughed it out.”
The Texans struck an effective balance with their pass rush through the opening weeks of the season, getting multiple sacks from linebackers John Simon (2.5), Benardrick McKinney and Mercilus (two apiece) as Watt worked his way back from July surgery while not quite resembling his dominant self.
On Sunday, Mercilus was the only linebacker who managed to pressure Mariota, although the Texans’ lone sack came at a key moment.
After Texans quarterback Brock Osweiler tossed a third-quarter interception, Texans defensive end Jadeveon Clowney sacked Mariota and the Titans soon yielded possession. Will Fuller returned the ensuing punt for the game-winning touchdown.
“We have to keep pushing forward,” Clowney said. “He’s (Watt) a big part of our team, but we can’t let one guy keep us from pushing forward and trying to win games. Today, we came out here and got the win and that is what we wanted to do.”