On Sunday, Vance Joseph took over as play-caller on defense for the first time in his career. Cornerback Brandon Harris had high praise for the defensive backs coach on the Verizon Players show on Texans Radio.
"He did a great job," Harris said on Tuesday's show via SportsRadio610. "I thought he had a great game plan on Sunday. I thought he mixed the calls in very, very well. Kept Andrew Luck and the Colts offense unbalanced and then was able to keep them to a lot of field goal drives when sometimes they probably should have scored. He did a great job of switching the calls up and putting us in the best position to make plays."
Houston's halftime adjustments on defense prevented the Colts from reaching the red zone for the remainder of the game. Luck completed just four passes for 22 yards in the second half and was held to just one field goal.
Joseph credits the second-half turnaround to the players, but wants to see the penalties eliminated.
"Players play," Joseph said. "Our calls haven't changed in three years. So players play. Even the first half, we had a penalty again, a PI (pass interference) for a big play and one pass for a big play. In the first series they scored, we had two penalties again. It's the same story for our team. It's penalties. That's an issue."
Joseph has made his mark on the Texans defensive backs since he arrived in 2011. In his first two seasons, Houston's secondary held opponents to a 52.2 completion percentage, the lowest in the NFL. Harris, now in his third season, credited Joseph for helping him improve as a player.
"He's great," Harris said. "It's amazing the progression that everybody goes through with him, along with myself. You just see improvements in your game and the confidence you play with from the time you get here and year-to-year. Each year you get better and better."
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