After having one of the best defenses in the NFL in 2025, the Houston Texans have struggled this year.
A major problem has been allowing explosives in the run game and the pass game, which has partially been the result of poor tackling.
Since the start of Houston’s bye week, Texans defensive coordinator Matt Burke has been emphasizing tackling drills in practice. All-Pro defensive end Will Anderson Jr. even referred to it as returning to "pee-wee football" tatics, but that was Burke’s goal as he was trying to go back to the basics.
“As we had time to reflect on some things, I think just really putting a re-emphasis on things. Obviously, we haven't been good enough in terms of tackling,” Burke said. “We got a lot of smirks from the guys. I hope
Will was sincere, but we sort of broke it down to the basics. We literally, like wrap squeezing and like, emphasizing some of those things and had another circuit today. It’s sort of on us to try to change some things that we're doing to see if we get some different results. Hopefully we see the fruits of our labor on Sunday.”
This should be a game Houston wins on Sunday going against the Los Angeles Chargers. Los Angeles has suffered the biggest decline of any team in the NFL, going from a playoff team in 2025 to a winless team through the first seven games in 2026.
The Texans should be able to get to 3-5, which would help to try and salvage their playoff chances, but a loss chages the outlook for the remainder of the season, even if the team enters a run starting in Week 10.
This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: Texans DC Matt Burke discusses re-emphasizing tackling in practice
