Houston Texans' defense finds its form in win over Titans as Will Anderson Jr. records 3 sacks

It might have been against the Tennessee Titans but the Houston Texans ' defense played like the unit many people were expecting to start the year in Sunday's 26-3 win .

The defense forced two turnovers, leading to two scoring drives. Tennessee averaged just 3.2 yards per play and failed to score after a field goal on its first drive. Defensive Player of the Year candidate Will Anderson Jr. sacked Cam Ward three times in a single quarter.

It was the most complete defensive performance of the season, and it came in DeMeco Ryans' first game back calling plays .

"The defense did an outstanding job today," Ryans said.

Beating up on the Titans is nothing new for the fourth-year head coach and the Texans.

Houston is now 6-1 against Tennessee in the Ryans era. In four of those wins, the defense held the Titans' offense to 204 yards or less. Those four games top Houston's leaderboard for fewest yards allowed in a regular-season game since 2018. Sunday's win was the third time Tennessee has been held to under three points by the Texans since 2023.

It started in the middle of the field with the starting linebacker duo of Azeez Al-Shaair and Jake Hansen. Hanson, starting his fourth straight game with Henry To'oTo'o out, has continued to get better as the season progressed. After notching a career-high 12 tackles last week, Hansen snagged his first career interception and notched the first two passes defended of his career.

Al-Shaair returned after missing last week's game with a groin injury and finished with a game-high 11 tackles.

"Azeez is our field general," Ryans said. "He's our communicator. He's the man in the middle."

There were a lot more bright spots to go around. Titans rookie wide receiver Carnell Tate had a breakout performance last week against the Baltimore Ravens with nine catches for 145 yards. But the Houston defensive backs held Tate to just one catch for 6 yards on five targets. Defensive tackle Kayden McDonald, one of Houston's two second-round picks in the most recent draft, made his NFL debut, starting the game and finishing with two tackles.

Then there was Anderson. For the first three quarters, Anderson had been relatively quiet as other players led the way. Then, as the Titans opened up the passing attack in the fourth quarter trying to stage a comeback, Anderson turned silence in a statement.

He sacked Ward three times over the course of nine minutes, two of them coming on fourth down. It was the second three-sack game of his career.

Anderson is also now up to 7½ sacks on the season and on pace to shatter his previous career high of 12.

"The guy is a tenacious player, relentless every single snap," Ryans said. "There's no better competitor, no better person than Will Anderson. So to see him go out and dominate the game by getting three sacks is just an outstanding performance by him."

Ten_FG Slye 30, 10:39. Drive: 10 plays, 58 yards, 4:21. Key Plays: Dike kick return to Tennessee 30; Ward 23 pass to Ridley; Pollard 14 run. Tennessee 3, Houston 0.

Hou_FG Fairbairn 45, 2:22. Drive: 10 plays, 49 yards, 5:13. Key Plays: Marks 12 run; Stroud 14 pass to Schultz on 3rd-and-2; Stroud 18 pass to Hutchinson; Stroud 1 pass to Marks on 3rd-and-14. Houston 3, Tennessee 3.

Hou_FG Fairbairn 35, 13:33. Drive: 6 plays, 18 yards, 3:11. Key Play: Stroud 12 pass to Collins. Houston 6, Tennessee 3.

Hou_FG Fairbairn 26, 6:56. Drive: 9 plays, 34 yards, 5:11. Key Plays: Hansen 19 interception return to Tennessee 41; Stroud 11 pass to Marks; Stroud 16 pass to Hutchinson; Stroud 13 pass to Noel on 3rd-and-19. Houston 9, Tennessee 3.

Hou_FG Fairbairn 53, 1:15. Drive: 8 plays, 34 yards, 4:29. Key Plays: Stroud 20 pass to Collins; Stroud 2 pass to Noel on 3rd-and-10. Houston 12, Tennessee 3.

Hou_Stroud 2 run (Fairbairn kick), 6:37. Drive: 18 plays, 74 yards, 8:23. Key Plays: T.Smith kick return to Houston 26; Stroud 2 run on 3rd-and-1; Stroud 23 pass to Boutte on 3rd-and-11; Stroud 2 run on 3rd-and-1; Stroud 6 pass to Collins on 3rd-and-2; Stroud 13 pass to Hutchinson. Houston 19, Tennessee 3.

Hou_Noel 9 pass from Stroud (Fairbairn kick), 14:09. Drive: 7 plays, 74 yards, 3:01. Key Plays: Marks 12 run; Stroud 18 pass to Hutchinson. Houston 26, Tennessee 3.

RUSHING_Houston, Marks 15-62, Montgomery 5-11, Stroud 6-5, Noel 1-1. Tennessee, Pollard 14-52, Mullings 1-3, Ward 1-2, Spears 2-0.

PASSING_Houston, Stroud 26-34-0-261. Tennessee, Ward 23-36-1-170.

RECEIVING_Houston, Collins 5-56, Noel 5-41, Hutchinson 4-65, Marks 4-23, Boutte 3-38, Schultz 3-30, Moreau 2-8. Tennessee, Spears 9-28, W.Robinson 6-53, Dike 3-28, Ridley 2-33, Ayomanor 1-17, Tate 1-6, Bellinger 1-5.

PUNT RETURNS_Houston, Noel 2-21. Tennessee, None.

KICKOFF RETURNS_Houston, Noel 1-22, T.Smith 1-22. Tennessee, Dike 6-147.

TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS_Houston, Al-Shaair 6-5-0, Blankenship 5-2-0, Hansen 3-2-0, Anderson 3-1-3, Lassiter 3-1-0, Hunter 3-0-1, Rankins 2-2-0, Togiai 1-7-0, Pitre 1-2-0, Ramsey 1-2-0, Robinson 1-0-0, Clowney 0-2-0, Crumedy 0-2-0, McDonald 0-2-0, Murray 0-1-0. Tennessee, Burgess 5-3-0, Barton 3-3-0, Hill 3-2-0, Simmons 3-1-0, Taylor 3-1-0, Adams 2-7-0, Gray 2-4-.5, Oliver 2-2-0, Elliott 2-1-0, Flott 2-1-0, M.Robinson 1-2-0, Thomas 1-2-0, Martin 1-0-1, Franklin-Myers 0-2-.5, Johnson 0-2-0, Faulk 0-1-0, Harris 0-1-0, Stackhouse 0-1-0.

INTERCEPTIONS_Houston, Hansen 1-19. Tennessee, None.

OFFICIALS_Referee Alex Kemp, Ump Brandon Ellison, HL Matthew Griebel, LJ Rusty Baynes, FJ Sean Petty, SJ Jim Quirk, BJ Scott Helverson, Replay Julie Johnson.

It wasn't all bright spots, however, as Jalen Pitre left the game with a shoulder injury in the second half. Ryans said after the game the severity of the knock was unknown. Pitre plays a key and versatile role in the defensive system, and any time missed would be a huge loss.

How much can be taken away from a victory over a team that's 6-33 since the start of the 2024 season is also up for debate. The AFC South-leading Jacksonville Jaguars, now 4-1, present a much bigger challenge next Sunday in London than a struggling Titans offense.

But Houston now has something to build upon, and a chance to play without the weight of winlessness on their backs.

"Defensive football always works together," Ryans said. "To me, it's a beautiful puzzle. When it's put together the proper way, with the D line harassing the quarterback, speeding him up, it allows our coverage guys to have a little bit more freedom. Whether we're pressing, whether we're off, that doesn't matter."