The Texans defense is currently first in the NFL, holding opponents to 260.2 yards per game and a league-low 134.2 average in passing yards, but is hungry for more turnovers.
"One thing that would help is if we played in different type of games," head coach Gary Kubiak said. "You get turnovers when you're ahead in some games and people have to throw. We played a team last week that threw the ball 16 times, so it makes it very, very difficult. But we've played very well defensively. We can improve in the run game. We can improve in the red zone. We can improve in turnovers. As well as we're playing, there's a lot of things we can get better at."
With three interceptions and one fumble and none gained in Sunday's 34-3 loss at San Francisco, the difference between takeaways and giveaways grew larger. Brian Cushing stressed the importance of making the most of each opportunity, no matter how few, to strip, deflect, or intercept.
"Yeah, we didn't have that many snaps defensively but the ones that we do have, we have to take advantage of and find a way to make a play, whether it's an interception or a fumble or anything just to get the ball back and to control the clock and the possession," Cushing said.
In 2012, Houston finished in the top-ten with a plus-12 differential but is minus-8 through five games this season. With the best defense in the NFL, the Texans are working to change that.
"We can be the number one defense all we want, but we need to force some turnovers," J.J. Watt said Wednesday. "Plain and simple. It's big for momentum. It's big to give the offense the ball back. They're just big plays and we need to start making those plays and we know that. We're very aware of it. It's something we're working extremely hard on and we need to find a way to do that."
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