On Sunday, the Houston defense slammed the door on multiple efforts by the Arizona offense to beat the Texans. The difference might have been the knowledge coach DeMeco Ryans brought to the table when it comes to defending Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray.
After the 21-16 win, Texans defensive end Will Anderson explained to PFT how Ryans’s experiences with the 49ers, who play the Cardinals twice per year, came in handy.
“It helped us a lot because we’ve seen a lot of things,” Anderson said. “Of course, we run the same defense, so we’ve seen a lot of things like, ‘Oh, ok, this is what they did here.’ We’re going to try to go out there and do it differently this time since we run the same defense, and we know what they did last time. It was really fun to see.”
The key for the Texans was pursuing Murray in unison.
“I thought we did a really good job of containing most of the game,” Anderson said. “I thought we rushed as a group. I think that’s one big thing that we always want to focus on is all four guys rushing as one and having a good time and having fun doing it. I think everybody was very selfless and rushing today and knowing what we were up against.”
He explained that, specifically as to Murray, working together was the key.
“Everybody just rushing together,” Anderson said. “Nobody being selfish. Everybody just staying in their pass rush lanes.”
It worked. The Texans avoided a trap game and got to 6-4. On Sunday, if they beat the Jaguars, the Texans will take over first place in the AFC South.
