Heading into the Week 4 matchup against the Tennessee Titans, Houston Texans edge rusher Danielle Hunter made a profound statement that would later prove prophetic and somewhat visionary.
“I feel that for us to be successful, the defense is going to have to hold the other team scoreless, well, that is my mindset at least,” Hunter said exclusively to Big Sarge Media. “I do my best every week to play and motivate my guys to not give up any points. That way, the offense will have more opportunities to win us the game.”
Hunter, in his second season with the Texans after signing as an unrestricted free agent in 2024, demonstrated his commitment on Sunday by helping the defense limit the Titans to 175 total yards and no points in a 26-0 blowout of Tennessee, securing their first win of the season.
I may ask Hunter if he has any idea what the next set of lottery numbers will be.
“The biggest mindset was just focusing on our jobs,” said Hunter, who finished with two sacks on Titans rookie quarterback Cam Ward. “Focusing on the little things like tackling, covering, rushing the passer, and stopping the ball. We put all those things together, and we did our job and executed our game plan on defense.”
That game plan that the ten-year veteran speaks of is what has kept the Texans in games this season, despite their 1-3 record that has them tied for fifth in the league with the San Francisco 49ers in total yards allowed (280.5), seventh in passing yards (178.3), 12th in rushing yards (102.3), and first in points allowed (12.8).
“As a defense, you don’t want to give up nothing,” said Texans cornerback Derek Stigley Jr. about limiting opponents to no points. “It is all about just working together as a unit.”
Houston’s defense has only allowed its four opponents to score a total of 51 points this season. After their shutout victory on Sunday, Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud praised his defensive unit, knowing they wouldn’t have won if they hadn’t played the way they did.
“Our defense played amazing,” said Stroud. “Thought they did a great job mixing coverage and stunting with the D-line and things like that. Man coverage was sticky. [CB] Kamari [Lassiter] played a great game. [S] Calen [Bullock], [S] M.J. [Stewart] stepped up and did a great job.
“I think when you hold a team to zero points in the NFL, that’s big time. That doesn’t happen a bunch. Shoutout to them boys. They’re doing a great job. Very grateful to have a defense like that.”
The Texans decided to take a different approach heading into Week 4, with head coach DeMeco Ryans relinquishing defensive play-calling duties to Matt Burke, as he focused on addressing other areas of the team that needed his guidance and leadership to move them out of the winless column.
That move paid off as the defense was relentless against the Titans, preventing them from gaining any momentum.
“I just felt like the guys were really in sync and on the same page,” Burke said about the defense on Thursday. “Again, we’ve talked about all year, when it’s clicking and when guys are communicating and on the same page and not having one guy bust here, one guy bust there, whatever those things are.
“I think we have enough talent to produce. Again, the shutout is sort of the byproduct of that. I felt like all the guys were on it, were communicating well, were into it on the sideline. I thought there was just an overall operation out there.”
Now, as they head into Baltimore to face the injury-riddled Ravens, who will be without their MVP-caliber quarterback, Lamar Jackson, the defense will face the formidable challenge of stopping running back Derrick Henry, who is expected to get more touches than the eight carries he had in the last game against the Kansas City Chiefs.