Oakland Raiders Wild Card Opponent Preview: The Houston Texans

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Oct 24, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Houston Texans defensive end Jadeveon Clowney (90) reacts following a turnover in the second half against the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The Broncos defeated the Texans 27-9. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /

Texans Defense

DE: Christian Colvington

NT: Vince WIlfork

DE: Jadeveon Clowney

OLB: Whitney Mercilus

ILB: Brian Cushing

ILB: Benardick Mckinney

OLB: John Simon

CB: kareem Jackson

FS: Jonathan Joseph

SS: Andre Hal

CB: Quentin Demps

The 2014 NFL draft was no doubt a turning point for the Raiders. Mack, Carr and Gabe Jackson. Mack of course, was destined to be compared with Clowney. For the first two years of Clowney’s career, rumours swirled that the Texans GM really preferred Mack, and that the former Gamecock star lacked a mature mindset and work ethic to succeed. Whilst no Raider would ever trade Mack away for Clowney, credit Jadeveon for becoming a force to be reckoned with this year.

Clowney is far and away the standout on this defensive front. It is scary to imagine how good they will be when Watt comes back next year. *Shudders*. Clowney has dominated one on one matchups, excelling initially in the run game, especially in notching tackles for loss. Of late, Clowney has further pushed himself in the pass rush, and all in all, has put together an absolutely stellar season.

Clowney is the number one threat for Oakland this week. With 6 sacks and 52 tackles, Clowney is beginning to grow into what many hoped he would be. When the Raiders and Texans faced off earlier this year at Azteca stadium, Clowney was almost single handedly responsible for Oakland’s less than average rushing attack (30 yards on 20 carries).

Earlier this week, Clowney said “I hope we blitz Connor Cook all game”. Clowney is the main threat, and with Donald Penn likely to miss the game, could well wreck the offensive gameplan.

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Apart from Clowney, this Texans defense has been a strong force in the 2016 season. They are the number 1. total defense in the NFL. They rank 2nd against the pass and 12th against the run, with linebackers Cushing and Mercilus in particular enforcing a physical presence behind an imposing defensive front of Cowney and Wilfork.

In addition, the Texans rank 8th in red zone defense, excelling at stifling their opponents run game close to the line. Perhaps a by product of Watt’s absence and Clowney’s continued growth in rushing the passer, they rank 25th in the NFL in sacks, with only 31.

While Clowney might hope the Texans blitz Cook all game, that might be in a desire to pad some otherwise undesirable stat lines for an otherwise stellar defense. For the Raiders, it could be a case of catch 22. They can play the run against Houston knowing they are weaker on that front, but be faced with Clowney who could threaten to wreck that completely like they did last time.

On the other hand, throwing Connor Cook in straight away against the 2nd best pass defense in the league would be wildly irresponsible to the poor young man who has showed good promise.

Next: Do You Have Confidence in Connor Cook?

Will the rookie be able to capture Oakland’s first postseason win in over a decade? We’ll have to wait to find out. The silver lining being that a Raiders collapse would only strengthen Derek Carr’s MVP case, having already received a vote from Adam Schein.

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