Here's the top defensive players for the Houston Texans in their 20-3 preseason win against the Carolina Panthers on Saturday afternoon.
Winning in front of the hometown crowd is fun. The Houston Texans hope to see more of that this season with C.J. Stroud punching it in for six points on Sundays at NRG Stadium.
Behind a 6-yard touchdown pass to Nico Collins in the first quarter, Stroud and the Texans coasted their way to a 20-3 win over the Carolina Panthers in the second preseason game. The defense forced two interceptions in the second half, including one by Damon Arnette to set up a British Brooks 1-yard touchdown run.
Stroud, who sat out in last week’s 20-10 loss at Minnesota, played the first two series, going 6-of-8 passing for 44 yards. Under new play-caller Nick Caley, there appeared to be more juice in the play design and consistency of the offensive drive.
“It was great, he’s still learning a lot,” Stroud said of Caley. “First-time play caller, he handled it great. He’s very communicative. He loves to wire guys up and bring juice and I think it’s a great thing for offense and I’m excited to work with him.”
Pro Football Focus handed out player grades for those who took a snap in Houston's win against the Panthers and we broke them down by offense and defense. Below are the five highest and lowest grades on the offensive side of the ball after a surprising performance at NRG Stadium.
There were a few surprises in terms of the highest- and lowest-graded players, both on offense and defense. In fact, most of you can already guess who graded out in stellar and horrendous fashion.
Here's a look at the five best defensive players below:
Top 5 defense
- LB Henry To'oTo'o- 93.3
- LB Jake Hansen -89.9
- DL Tommy Togiai - 87.8
- LB K.C. Ossai - 83.0
- DE Danielle Hunter -82.8
To'oTo'o is making a case to start Week 1 over Christian Harris when he's healthy. His 91.4 coverage grade is the highest marker of any defensive player through two preseason games, while his 78.8 tackle grade was second-highest on the team.
Bottom 5 defense
- DL Solomon Byrd - 30.2
- DL Haggai Ndubuisi- 33.1
- CB Damon Arnette- 34.4
- LB E.J. Speed - 37.4
- Arthur Maulet - 43.4
Last week, Speed finished with the highest grade. This week, his 32.8 coverage grade was the second-lowest among all skill players for the afternoon.
Other notables
- DB Jaylin Smith- 81.3
- CB Kamari Lassiter - 66.3
- DB D'Angelo Ross - 80.9
- DB Jalen Pitre - 63.1
- DE Darrell Taylor - 63.0
This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: Texans PFF grades: Top & Bottom defensive players in win vs. Panthers
Category: Football
