Skip to main content
Houston Texans
Advertising

The Leftovers: DB's, Chemistry & Watt's on pace for...

Drew Dougherty answered a few questions submitted from fans via Facebook in the video above. He answered some more in the article below.

Nick Battista: Dear Drew, Is J.J. Watt the Watt of old? He looks really good and says he feels good. Can we expect another DMVP?

DD: Nick, he sure looks like the guy who dominated from 2012 through 2015. Five sacks, four forced fumbles, six tackles for a loss…is really impressive. Over the last two games, specifically, he's been even more disruptive. If he keeps it up, yes, he can win a fourth Defensive Player of the Year Award. He's on pace for 20 sacks this season.

Manuel Flores: Dear Drew, Is it too much to say I smell a 2 game win streak?! GoTexans!!

DD: Cool with me, Broseph.

Edgar Alvarado: Dear Drew, Why won't the Texans upgrade the secondary?

DD: They've tried. In March they signed safety Tyrann Mathieu and cornerbacks Aaron Colvin and Johnson Bademosi in free agency. In April they used their first draft pick on safety Justin Reid. They've also added cornerbacks Shareece Wright and Kayvon Webster in the last two months. It'd be totally sweet if 1994 Deion Sanders and 1986 Ronnie Lott were just hanging around, but they're not. It's a long season, and I'm pretty confident defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel will get things improved.

Steve Hicks: Dear Drew, Do you think the roof will be open Sunday night versus the Cowboys, weather permitting? It seemed to work well for us up in Indy.

DD: I don't, and it also doesn't look like the weather will permit it anyways. 60 percent chance of thunderstorms predicted for Sunday, per Weather.com.

Emmanuel Cuevas: Dear Drew, How do you know think our defensive line will hold up against Ezekiel Elliott?

DD: They'll need to limit the damage. He's an exceptional player, and his rushing totals have gotten better each week this season. The NFL's rushing leader this season by nearly 100 yards, in Sunday's win over the Lions, Elliott carried the ball 25 times for 152 yards. He also caught four passes for 88 yards. Watt, Jadeveon Clowney and the rest of the Texans front 7 have been solid this season against the run, allowing just 94.2 yards per game. That's the 10th-best makr in the NFL. But they've not seen anyone like Elliott this year, and will be tested mightily.

Samantha Hallas: Dear Drew, How does it work as far as players returning, and which Texans players on IR right now, if any, do you think will come back this season?

DD: Two players can come off the Reserve/Injured (IR) list and play again this season. Once you're on the list, you're out for at least eight games. So two players who are on the list before the Miami game, can come back this season. If you go on IR after the Miami game, your 2018 season is finished. Guys like LB Dylan Cole, WR Bruce Ellington, CB Aaron Colvin and CB Kevin Johnson can come back later this year if they're healthy enough, but only two total can come off IR.

Cameron Knight: Dear Drew, With some of the pressure relieved with the win, how has the team chemistry and team/coach chemistry been holding up?

DD: Looks good to me, Cameron. You've gotta be a resilient bunch to withstand what you did on Sunday in Indianapolis and still win. Bill O'Brien and many of the players said as much. They're a mentally tough crew. Now they have to keep it up.

JM Reyna: Dear Drew, Now that we FINALLY have a win, do you think that Sundays game is pivotal game to set ground for a winning season....maybe playoffs?

DD: Sure JM, but I think if you ask any of the players, they'd tell you "Let's just worry about beating the Cowboys, first." After that, they'd probably say, "Let's just worry about beating the Bills." They need to have a short-term vision, because the next game is always the most important one.

To the Traveling Texans that came out to support the Texans at Lucas Oil Stadium, thank you.

Related Content

Advertising