Some Week 1 Discussion: How Good is Houston's Defense?

[BillsPride12]

Do the Texans have a generational Defense as good as The 2000 Ravens, 02 Buccs, 2013 Seahawks, or 2015 Broncos?

 

Those teams all won Super Bowls.  Can Houston ride this Defense to a championship? Obviously it is their Offense that is holding them back and they have done nothing on that side of the ball to make me think they will take any big leaps forward Offensively but if the chips fall the right way is that Defense good enough to take them all the way?

 

Buffalo got clobbered by their D in last year's matchup but we have a new weapon in DJ Moore this season and we were dealing with injuries to Dawkins and Brown in last year's matchup. I think we give them a much tougher game this time around but I could see it going either way at this point. Will still be the toughest matchup for our Offense this season

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

16 minutes ago, BillsPride12 said:

Do the Texans have a generational Defense as good as The 2000 Ravens, 02 Buccs, 2013 Seahawks, or 2015 Broncos?

 

Those teams all won Super Bowls.  Can Houston ride this Defense to a championship? Obviously it is their Offense that is holding them back and they have done nothing on that side of the ball to make me think they will take any big leaps forward Offensively but if the chips fall the right way is that Defense good enough to take them all the way?

 

Buffalo got clobbered by their D in last year's matchup but we have a new weapon in DJ Moore this season and we were dealing with injuries to Dawkins and Brown in last year's matchup. I think we give them a much tougher game this time around but I could see it going either way at this point. Will still be the toughest matchup for our Offense this season

 

I think they pose a lot of challenges.  Stingley is one of the best corners in the league, Anderson/Hunter is a very tough assignment, and they play with an edge.  They also have been remarkably healthy the last 2 years.  

[Gregg]

This will be a tough game. This is probably the toughest defense the Bills will play all year. I do like the fact that the Bills play them week 1 as opposed to later in the year when they are in midseason form. 

[stlbills13]

Best defense in the league with a good defensive coach. Won't be easy.

 

Stroud will hold them back from a Super Bowl

[Sestak4ever]

They tend to come out of the gate slowly. Of course we have had some tough opening games also. If our defense can come up with a couple turnovers we should handle this one.

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

We have to be smart. Same thing I said before they lost to them last year. Just need to play sound field position, take points when you can get them, no sacks and turnovers. Let them make the mistakes, not us. 
 

This is a team you have to beat like 17-10. 
 

it will only be a tough game because the offense will want to come out and try to play big. They will need to resist that urge.

[BillsPride12]

Just now, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

We have to be smart. Same thing I said before they lost to them last year. Just need to play sound field position, take points when you can get them, no sacks and turnovers. Let them make the mistakes, not us. 
 

This is a team you have to beat like 17-10. 
 

it will only be a tough game because the offense will want to come out and try to play big. They will need to resist that urge.

That's the thing though, it's extremely difficult to just play it smart and limit turning the ball over when you are constantly being harassed by a ferocious pass rush all game. That's more of the mantra to combat a McDermott Defense where his game plan is to confuse the opposing QB into turning the ball over.  

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

22 minutes ago, BillsPride12 said:

That's the thing though, it's extremely difficult to just play it smart and limit turning the ball over when you are constantly being harassed by a ferocious pass rush all game. That's more of the mantra to combat a McDermott Defense where his game plan is to confuse the opposing QB into turning the ball over.  

to me, playing it smart here is ball control and short passing game. We can’t afford to hold the ball or get into long yardage situations. And there is nothing wrong with punting in a game like this. 

[NoSaint]

1 hour ago, BillsPride12 said:

Do the Texans have a generational Defense as good as The 2000 Ravens, 02 Buccs, 2013 Seahawks, or 2015 Broncos?

 

Those teams all won Super Bowls.  Can Houston ride this Defense to a championship? Obviously it is their Offense that is holding them back and they have done nothing on that side of the ball to make me think they will take any big leaps forward Offensively but if the chips fall the right way is that Defense good enough to take them all the way?

 

Buffalo got clobbered by their D in last year's matchup but we have a new weapon in DJ Moore this season and we were dealing with injuries to Dawkins and Brown in last year's matchup. I think we give them a much tougher game this time around but I could see it going either way at this point. Will still be the toughest matchup for our Offense this season

the problem remains that if we can’t beat press man coverage outside, their athletic ends and linebackers will have time to punish Josh. It’s been the recipe for a few years and the common denominator in all our roughest outings - top flight man corners plus athletes that can get Josh on the ground. 
 

hopefully Moore, plus some creative scheming, can get us over that hump. Once we have the talent to answer that challenge we will officially have no real meaningful holes on offense besides luck

[Einstein]

I won't make comparisons to teams from other years, but they are extremely good. And well coached.

Josh Allen would go undefeated if we had the Texans defense.

[GoBills808]

2 hours ago, Bleeding Bills Blue said:

 

I think they pose a lot of challenges.  Stingley is one of the best corners in the league, Anderson/Hunter is a very tough assignment, and they play with an edge.  They also have been remarkably healthy the last 2 years.  

stingley+lassiter is easily the best 1/2CB duo in the league

 

spoiled for talent in HOU

[BuffaloBillyG]

2 hours ago, BillsPride12 said:

Do the Texans have a generational Defense as good as The 2000 Ravens, 02 Buccs, 2013 Seahawks, or 2015 Broncos?

 

Those teams all won Super Bowls.  Can Houston ride this Defense to a championship? Obviously it is their Offense that is holding them back and they have done nothing on that side of the ball to make me think they will take any big leaps forward Offensively but if the chips fall the right way is that Defense good enough to take them all the way?

 

Buffalo got clobbered by their D in last year's matchup but we have a new weapon in DJ Moore this season and we were dealing with injuries to Dawkins and Brown in last year's matchup. I think we give them a much tougher game this time around but I could see it going either way at this point. Will still be the toughest matchup for our Offense this season

Yeah, a tough D like that week 1, they did Joe Brady no favors lol. 

 

But even with how great their defense pressured Allen last year, it's important to remember Spencer Brown played a good chunk of that game with one arm and Dawkins spent a portion of the game late with a concussion. And I really believe that the OLine will be anxious to show they are better than that against this D. 

 

On the flip side, barring something bad for them the Texans will have Nico Collins and he changes that whole offense when he's in there.

 

Still, I fully expect the Bills to break the string of bad play in Houston and come out with a win. Heck, last year even with how dominant that defense played against us, we had a chance to win late. 

[Buffalo716]

Stroud is a worse game manager than Trent dilfer so they won't win any big games

 

But it's legit great defense 

 

(FYI this isn't saying Stroud is worse than dilfer I'm saying he's worse at managing a game with a Top flight elite defense)

 

I Don't trust Stroud to be a game manager and not just lose it

Edited August 4 by Buffalo716

[corta765]

Their defense is the best I have seen since the 2013 Seahawks/ 2015 Broncos. It legitimately is once in a generation and they just added to it with Clowney. They have elite talent at all three levels with a great defensive mind running the show. All of their best players are squarely in their prime and the backups they have are really good veterans which only enhance their rotations.

 

I have made this point when looking at this matchup against them week 1 but you actually need to turn this into a boring game which you run the ball a lot with a lot of play action, control the clock, and play a very simple approach. Trying to make big plays against them is a no no and truthfully part of why I think Josh has struggled so much the last years against them. Buffalo and Josh lovesss games where its open free flowing and aggressive. Great defenses excel at breaking teams that do that because it allows for big plays to happen a lot and mistakes to be made. Playing an offense that will just run three of five downs and churn yards its the opposite of what they want. Half the dang reason the Pats even beat them was simply because they made less mistakes and ran the ball 32 v passing 27. In both losses to Houston (24/25) combined Buffalo attempted 64 passes vs 52 rush attempts. With our lack of WR talent HOU was designed to press our guys hard the last two years and trying to throw that much was a disaster in the making. Again Buffalo needs to run the dang ball a whole bunch and have a very basic simply attack that is not looking for chunk plays rather just churning yards and downs. 

 

In the Texans five regular season losses last year just one was by more then one score (Seattle 27-19 so technically one score with 8 pts) the remainder were losses to LA 14-9, TB 20-19, JAC 17-10, and DEN 18-15. Incredibly boring defensive games but made to force Houston's offense to do more which they can't. I do think the Texans offense is a little better with Montgomery added at RB and Tank Dell back at WR. I think Stroud when he is on can be close to a top 10 guy, but he is more in the middle so you have opportunities with him.

 

If the Bills win week 1 it will be 19-14 or 19-16 etc.. something low scoring boring where they control the game and stay within themselves. If they lose it'll be 27-17 because they made too many mistakes and were wildin out on offense.

[C.Biscuit97]

1 hour ago, Buffalo716 said:

Stroud is a worse game manager than Trent dilfer so they won't win any big games

 

But it's legit great defense 

Skip Bayless would be proud of this take! Stroud has won a playoff game every year of his career (that is a very short list for QBs) at 24. Dilfer completed 40% of his passes and averaged 160 yards in the 2 years he made the playoffs. 
 

stroud has certainly regressed since his rookie year (maybe the best rookie qb season ever). But to compare a guy who is barely 25 with 62 tds to 25 ints who has had a crappy o line, run game, and multiple OCs to Dilfer is wild. 
 

that said, with that defense, our defense forcing mistakes could change the game. Still, the hate on Stroud is going way too far, 

[Buffalo716]

8 minutes ago, C.Biscuit97 said:

Skip Bayless would be proud of this take! Stroud has won a playoff game every year of his career (that is a very short list for QBs) at 24. Dilfer completed 40% of his passes and averaged 160 yards in the 2 years he made the playoffs. 
 

stroud has certainly regressed since his rookie year (maybe the best rookie qb season ever). But to compare a guy who is barely 25 with 62 tds to 25 ints who has had a crappy o line, run game, and multiple OCs to Dilfer is wild. 
 

that said, with that defense, our defense forcing mistakes could change the game. Still, the hate on Stroud is going way too far, 

Purely based on statistics obviously Stroud is better, he's thrown for like 4,000 yards.. I also don't think you could compare 2002 NFL to today

 

But I watched the kid in high school live and in college live and never thought he had it to be an NFL superstar.. he was a great college quarterback in a system at Ohio State but I didn't see future Superstar... like even my take here pre-draft I said the long-term I wouldn't want him to be my guy 

 

Dilfer did have a stronger arm... And was a top 10 pick who just didn't do much besides his Super bowl run

 

My point was if I had Trent dilfer with the Ravens or Stroud with Houston.. one game on the line who do I feel more comfortable is winning the game 

 

Still dilfer with the Ravens... Now you can say the Ravens have more talent on defense but Houston is considered maybe the most talented defense in the league .. a defense certainly capable of winning the Super bowl

 

Statistic-wise Stroud is much better... But I didn't see it at Ohio State and I still don't see him being a upper echelon quarterback who will take a team over the hump

 

He just needs to manage a game and not lose it and I don't think that's his forte

Edited August 4 by Buffalo716

[Charles Romes]

Dawkins and Spencer Brown were manhandled in last year’s game. Never thought I’d say that. 

[YoloinOhio]

Just get CJ to turn the ball over. See Pats playoff game. 

[T.E.]

I feel pretty good about this game. I think the team will be eager to exorcise some demons at that stadium.

[frostbitmic]

Playing them week #1 instead of when they're in midseason form is a bonus. 

 

IMO, the Texans will play an Offense that won't be driving with a foot on the brake, like I believe was the case the last couple of years. I think McD made sure the Offense slowed down to keep his Defense off the field as much as possible. I think this Offense will be opened up this season and they'll be scary good.