This Texans defense is good enough to win a Super Bowl with

I just needed a break from talking about the offense

So I will admit to my priors before the season, and they were as follows: I thought the Texans would make the leap to a Super Bowl contender behind a very good defense, because I, the idiot, took it for granted that the Texans would have a good offense this year. Stupid! Foolish! Have you watched this team? But that was how I felt. I had some Kool-Aid about the Stefon Diggs trade and I figured that would only make life easier for everyone else. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

But we write about the offense every week. What I wanted to explore this time is more tangible: Did the Texans defense take a leap? Yes. They are third in the NFL in defensive DVOA at minus-18.4 percent, behind only the Vikings and Lions. In 2023, the unit was literal dead average at 0.0%, which ranked it (unsurprisingly) 16th.

That squares it into a nice round number, right, but the Texans defense has had some inherent advantages and disadvantages. They were the only team that Anthony Richardson was actually able to torch with his deep ball this year, back in Week 1, if you’ll recall. They also were the only team to really get a look at the Josh Allen Bills when the receiving corps was decimated without Khalil Shakir and with Amari Cooper not in the room.

When I think of the Texans defensive profile this year, what I think of is a team that is willing to give you downfield shots. They aren’t blitz-happy — their 25.1 percent blitz rate per PFR is squarely middle of the pack — but only the Jets and Browns allow an average target distance higher than the Texans’ 9.4 air yards. (They’re also pretty aggressive as a run defense! DVOA’s adjusted line yards numbers have them third-best in adjusted line yards allowed, but 29th when ballcarriers get to the second level.)