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The key for the Texans in Saturday's playoff game vs. the Chargers
Happy Thursday! Sorry I'm late.
The moment has arrived.
Everything that the Houston Texans have been playing for, for the past 20-plus weeks is here.
Their record has reset to 0-0 as they enter their wild-card game against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Few people are giving them a chance on Saturday, and I get it.
Their struggles have been pronounced. Their offense hasn't truly dominated a game this season. And their defense has taken a step back in recent weeks.
But mostly everyone was healthy at Thursday's practice, including linebacker Christian Harris, edge rushers Will Anderson Jr. and Denico Autry.
The only starter who didn't practice was guard Shaq Mason.
The key for the Texans on Saturday will be two things: Whether they can establish the run on offense, and whether they can get pressure on Justin Herbert on defense.
The Texans identity in recent weeks has been establishing the run. And when they don't, they struggle.
On defense, if they can get pressure on Herbert, they can force him to play faster than he wants, and maybe force him to turn it over. It'll start with stopping running back J.K. Dobbins on early downs.
But if they don't, they could end up out of the playoffs and heading for an early vacation.
That's the last thing Houston wants to do. Otherwise, this entire season, signing players to make a Super Bowl push, will all be a fail.
This week online, I'll have a profile story on Texans edge rusher Danielle Hunter that will be online Friday morning and in Saturday's paper. Make sure you all check it out.
 | Jonathan M. Alexander, Texans beat reporter |
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Q: The Texans and DeMeco Ryans don't blitz very much. Given the great cornerbacks they have, don't you think they should blitz more to try and get more pressure on Charger's quarterback Justin Herbert? — Ron Colston
JMA: DeMeco Ryans' philosophy throughout his career as a play-caller hasn't been to blitz much. But I'll disagree with you. He has blitzed a decent amount this season.
Ryans has sent the blitz on 29% of his team's defensive snaps, which is 14th most in the NFL. Some games he hasn't more than others. But it will all depend on the down and distance. Blitzing on third-and-long is much more effective than blitzing on third-and-short and leaving themselves exposed.
Q: No question, just a comment… Jonathan, thank you for supporting Al-Shaair, as you have from the beginning, he was just playing football, doing his job… Certainly did not mean to injure anyone!! — Sheila Monsour
JMA: Thanks Sheila.
Yeah, I just didn't agree with how conversation formed around who he was as a person. Like you said, he was playing football. He was doing his job. He wasn't trying to hurt someone. So why didn't the conversation get so dark? It's good that all sides have moved past this.
You can read the full version of this mailbag here: Will OC Bobby Slowik be back? Has there been enough recent improvement? | Houston Texans mailbag
Texans Trivia!
This week's question: The Texans are 5-2 all-time in the wild-card round. Who have their five wins come against?
The first person to email me the answer to this question gets a shoutout in the next newsletter.
Podcast
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Photo by: Chris Shelton
Everyone is predicting the Chargers to win. I think it's a home game, which will give Houston the advantage. I'm picking the Texans in a defensive slugfest.
Prediction: Texans 20, Chargers 17
JMA's season record: 12-5
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