HOUSTON (AP) — Asked how he’d describe Houston’s pass rush to someone who hasn’t seen the Texans play before, coach DeMeco Ryans took a few seconds before landing on an answer.
“It’s like four Tasmanian devils just wrecking everything that’s in front of them. That’s how I look at our guys,” Ryans said. “They are fast. They are physical. The way they get off the ball, the way they collapse the pocket, they’re a terror.”
After a stellar performance in
a win over the Steelers in the wild-card round, the Texans are looking for this fearsome foursome to lead them again when they visit the Patriots on Sunday, when a win will put them in the AFC championship for the first time in franchise history.
The starting defensive line consists of first-team AP All-Pro defensive end Will Anderson Jr. and second-teamer and fellow end Danielle Hunter along with tackles Sheldon Rankins and Tommy Togiai.
The Texans led the NFL in yards allowed in the regular season and were second to the Seahawks in points. They continued that success in their first playoff game, allowing just 175 yards in the 30-6 win over Pittsburgh.
Houston sacked Aaron Rodgers four times and hit him 12 other times on Monday night while forcing him to fumble twice. They scored two defensive touchdowns against the Steelers, with one coming on Anderson’s strip sack of Rodgers that Rankins scooped up and returned 33 yards for the score. It was the fourth touchdown this season for Houston’s defensive line, another example of just how good this group has been.
Anderson and Hunter are the undisputed stars of the group after combining for 27 sacks in the regular season. But defensive line coach Rod Wright said what the Texans do doesn’t work unless everyone does their job.
“We say four equals one,” Wright said. “Everything we do, we do together. That’s a tribute to our guys. We know we’ll sack a quarterback if we rush as one. But if one guy wins, but the other guy doesn’t complement him, the quarterback’s gonna get out, especially a quarterback like we’re playing on Sunday.”
Hunter said playing with that mindset makes the game a lot of fun.
“The guys go out there and the biggest thing is just feeling free,” he said. “You don’t have to worry about somebody else’s job, just doing your part. When you’re out there, there’s no feeling that’s better than you doing your part and everybody else is doing their part. It just flows.”
Houston's pass rush hurried and harassed the 42-year-old Rodgers throughout Monday's win. They know they’ll have a different challenge against the Patriots with the much more mobile 23-year-old Drake Maye, who has 450 yards rushing this season.
But regardless of who they’re facing, Wright’s message this week is that you don’t win at this level by changing things up, but rather by continuing to do what got you here.
“So really just honing in on things that we already do and being locked in,” he said. “Not being fancy, being ourselves, but the discipline and the technique and the execution has to be there.”
Houston’s front four has been so successful rushing this season that the Texans rarely blitz. Of their 47 sacks in the regular season, only 2½ came from someone other than a defensive lineman. By contrast, the Broncos, who led the NFL with 68 regular-season sacks, got 43 from non-defensive linemen.
“Why are we able to rush four guys and play the way we play? It’s not because I’m such a great coach,” Ryans said with a laugh. “It’s because we’ve got really great players up front. This game will always be about the players and those guys. They set the table for us, for our entire team.”
While there are plenty of good pass rushers around the league, the Texans are unique in that they don’t have just one elite pass rusher, but two. Anderson and Hunter were one of only two pairs of teammates to both have at least 10 sacks in the regular season.
Patriots coach Mike Vrabel raved about the duo.
“I don’t think it’s one move,” he said. “It’s talent, length, effort. If they get blocked, they don’t stay blocked long. Can power different moves on the edge. They play hard against the run. It’s not just if you run the ball that they’re taking plays off. So, two really good bookends.”
Bookends that can cause headaches for offensive coordinators.
“I can imagine it’s tough because sometimes you can chip one guy and let a tackle stay one on one with the other end. That’s really not the case here,” Wright said. “I don’t think anyone loves their one-on-one matchup with a guy like Will or guy like Danielle, you’ve kind of got to pick your poison. And I just think it’s a matchup problem for anybody.”
Anderson has talked often about how much Hunter has helped his development since the he joined the team last season after spending his first nine years in Minnesota. Hunter doesn’t talk much, but Anderson, who is in his third year, said seeing how the 31-year-old conducts himself every day has taught him so much.
“This guy has no let up, he has 100 career sacks, Pro Bowl, All-Pro… and he still doing the little things,” Anderson said. “And I think that’s what makes him really great.”
While Hunter has mostly played the role of teacher in his relationship with the 24-year-old Anderson, he admits he has picked up a thing or two from his young teammate.
“The biggest thing I’ve learned from Will is just the way he just never gives up. That’s one thing that we can all learn,” Hunter said. “He just keeps his motor, just goes on forever and ever and me being 11 years in the league, it motivates me sometimes, like fourth quarter in the game, Will’s going I gotta keep going, too.”
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AP Sports Writer Kyle Hightower contributed to this story.
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