Red Zone Play: In the Safe(ty) Zone

In 2016 the Houston Texans had one of the top-rated pass defenses. In 2017 they plummeted to one of the worst. While the on-the-nose way of looking at things is to blame guys like Kareem Jackson, Kevin Johnson and Andre Hal or the loss of A.J. Bouye - or to take it another step and blame Mike Vrabel – the reality is the loss of a dominant pass rush meant the pass dominated league had its way with an overworked Texans’ secondary.

Just look at the names on the front-sevens of the best pass defenses in 2016: J.J. Watt, Von Miller, Jadeveon Clowney, DeMarcus Ware, Everson Griffen. It’s the core of the best All-Pro front-seven in recent history.

So, the old adage stands, a great pass rush creates…