What are the Houston Texans talking about ahead of Sunday’s matchup in Houston at NRG Stadium against the Lions? Let’s find out:
1. Houston general manager Nick Caserio joined the Texans radio show and was asked to give a scouting report on the Lions.
“You’re going to be hard pressed to find a better team in the league than the Detroit Lions,” he said. “It starts with the top with Brad (Holmes) and Dan (Campbell), the job that they’ve done with the program from where it started to where it is now. Nothing but respect, appreciation, admiration for the team that they have built.
“The team is built kind of in their images and Dan’s image, and they play a certain way. They play with a certain mentality, mindset and overall style that is difficult to deal with on a weekly basis.”
2. The Texans have allowed the second most sacks in the NFL (31) and are coming off a loss last Thursday against the Jets where they allowed eight sacks and 11 quarterback hits. Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans was asked by Texans reporters if any personnel changes along the offensive line were coming this week.
“We’ll look at that as we continue to go throughout the week but as of right now, again, everyone has to play better,” he said.
Detroit’s 20 sacks on the year are tied with Indianapolis, Jacksonville and San Francisco for 18th most in the NFL.
3. Caserio said one thing the Texans will have to be really good at this week is handling Detroit’s play-action pass game. He mentioned that Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson does a good job mixing, matching and marrying the run game with the play action and called Detroit one of the best play action teams in the league.
4. Ryans told Texans radio that Detroit’s toughness and physicality across all three phases really jumps out on tape. He said Detroit has a really cool play style and they play the game how he envisions it should be played. He said he loves this matchup Sunday night and talked to his players about earning it and proving it each week, and this week is a great test for his football team in that regard.
“They have lost one game, so they are riding high,” he said of the Lions. “So, if we want to go out and show people who we are, let’s go do it this week.”
Ryans thinks this will be a good measuring stick game to see just how physical his football team is.
5. Lions safeties Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch have 10 interceptions between them. Most fans in Detroit consider them the best safety tandem in the league, but the respect for their play expands much farther than Detroit.
“It’s a ball hawking secondary that plays sticky coverage,” Caserio said of the Lions. “Start with Branch and Joseph, as a tandem, probably the two best safeties in the league. Branch on his own is one of the best football players in the league. This guy does a lot of things very, very well.”
6. Ryans said a defensive emphasis for his team this week will be tackling well and limiting Detroit’s run after catch.
“The way (Amon-Ra) St. Brown and (Jahmyr) Gibbs turn a short check down or short pass, how they turn that into explosives, it’s been really cool to see,” he said. “Then they have Jameson Williams, who is an explosive deep-play threat. They have a lot of playmakers all across the field.”
7. Another player Caserio has a ton of respect for on Detroit’s defense is defensive tackle Alim McNeill.
“Really good inside player in McNeill, who not a lot of people talk about,” he said. “He’s kind of ascended to what he is now. They are really good in the inside part of the defense.”
