The Houston Texans run defense looks to have turned a corner in recent weeks.
Since Week 10 at Cleveland, the Texans have not allowed a 100-yard rusher in their games against the New England Patriots, Detroit Lions and or in Sunday's loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
"Yeah, besides that one series the rest of the game I definitely was happy with the run defense," Watt said. "Hopefully we can replicate that because that's what we need to do to have success on defense. It shows that when we do that, we're able to get off the field on third down. That's obviously how we're going to have success."
The Texans defense allowed rushing touchdown by Nyheim Hines in the first quarter, but held Indianapolis to 3-of-11 (27 percent) on third down.
Defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver says the improvement has been "truly a collective effort" with improved tackling and players doing their jobs and setting the edge. The Texans have also simplified their scheme since their Week 8 bye and seen steady improvement against the run ever since.
"We've much improved tackling really probably since, you know, probably since the Green Bay game," Weaver said. "Schematically, we've certainly made some changes and a lot of that happened during the bye week. I think, you know, in hindsight, if I go back and do things over again, maybe we did a little bit too much from a coverage standpoint, particularly early in the season."
Watt, who finished with six tackles (five solo), one sack, four tackles for loss and one quarterback hit against the Colts, agrees. Players have been in better position to stop the run and improved technique, from gap integrity to shedding blocks to missing fewer tackles.
The Texans hope to build on that improvement as they head to Chicago to face the Bears.
"I think some of the simplification of things and the ability to just focus on the things that we need to do has helped and I think we have improved over the season," Watt said. "I don't still think we're as good as we want to be on defense, but I think that we want to be in a position where we can help us give us a chance to win every game. That's what we need to do for the last four weeks."
Sunday's kickoff from Soldier Field is set for noon CT on CBS, the Houston Texans mobile app and SportsRadio 610.
