The Texans are the only team in the NFL with zero turnovers through three preseason games. When I asked Bill O'Brien about this statistic, he joked that I had jinxed it by bringing it up.
While a little luck is involved, the Texans have been working on protecting the ball in practice.
"I think some of that is things that we really do emphasize," O'Brien said Tuesday. "We really talk about ball security, taking care of the ball. I think that our defense does a really good job during practice of trying to take the ball away so that makes it even more of a focus on our offense. I think some of it is luck, you know. Sometimes an interception, a batted ball, things like that, you just can't control that."
The Texans currently rank second in the AFC and are tied for fifth in the NFL in turnover margin, at plus-four. Houston has forced four turnovers through three preseason games. In 2014 the Texans led the NFL with 34 takeaways and were tied for an AFC-best plus-12 turnover differential.
"That's a big, big, stat when it comes to winning and losing," O'Brien said. "Taking the ball away and turning the ball over as you can see last year, that was a big stat for us so hopefully that continues."
The Texans wrap up their 2015 preseason in Dallas on Thursday night. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m CT on KTRK ABC-13 and SportsRadio 610.
View behind the scenes photos from the upcoming episode of Hard Knocks.
