Texans' defense shuts down Raiders for wild-card playoff win

HOUSTON – They harassed him, they puzzled him, they intercepted him, and the Houston Texans’ defense smothered the Oakland Raiders and rookie quarterback Connor Cook.

Oakland snapped a 13-year streak without a postseason appearance, but the Raiders stumbled Saturday evening in their wild card round game against the Texans, 27-14, because of Houston’s pass rush, downfield coverage, and third-down dominance.

And as either the New England Patriots or the Kansas City Chiefs loom in the divisional round next week, Houston showed that its defense is the unit on which its playoff future rests.

The mindset?

“It don’t take much,” defensive end Jadeveon Clowney told reporters after the game. “Just line up and hit them in the mouth.”

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Clowney intercepted a pass inside Oakland’s 10-yard line to set up the first Texans' touchdown and finished the game with one tackle and two passes defended.

“It was huge,” Raiders running back Latavius Murray said of Clowney’s interception. “Coming out and opening up that drive that way, to give them the short field like that, it was obviously a big play for them.”

Despite not recording a sack, Clowney consistently rushed the passer and helped open up lanes for other Texans defenders. Linebacker Whitney Mercilus sacked Cook twice, and nose tackle D.J. Reader added one.

Cook, a rookie fourth-round pick, made his first career start in place of Derek Carr, who broke his leg Week 16.

Cook could never settle into a rhythm and completed only 18 of 45 passes for 161 yards, 1 touchdown, and 3 interceptions.

Houston stacked eight and nine defenders in the box for the majority of the game, daring Cook to make plays. The Texans stifled Oakland’s running game to only 64 yards, something they learned from their Week 11 loss to the Raiders in Mexico City.

“We were going to play our defense,” defensive end Antonio Smith said. “We knew their best chance to beat us was the run, because that’s what they tried to come out and establish in the first game, and we pretty much shut them down until the fourth quarter.”

Added Clowney: “We slapped them in the first game, and it got away in the fourth quarter.”

Houston restricted the Raiders to only two of 16 third-down conversions and forced Oakland to punt 10 times.

“We’re just trying to show the world that we’re good on defense,” cornerback A.J. Bouye said.

Follow Lorenzo Reyes on Twitter @LorenzoGReyes

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