TITANS VS TEXANS
Sunday, Oct. 18, 2020
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Q. J.J., is this loss any tougher to take given the way it played out versus what you all have been through in the past, the fact it was winnable but you all gave up over 600 yards on defense?
J.J. WATT: Yeah. This is one of the tougher ones I've had, this one. This one really hurts. Offense played great. Offense played great, gave us opportunities to win the game, and we did not finish the game on defense. We had multiple opportunities and we didn't do it. And as leader of the defense, I put that squarely on my shoulders. So this one is very difficult to take.
Q. What did you think about what Derrick Henry did today and the difficulty it was for you all to contain him?
J.J. WATT: He's a good player. You gotta tackle. We gotta tackle. We had situations where we're there and we don't make the tackle. I mean if you don't tackle, a guy is going to run and score, especially a guy that talented, that good. So we did not do that. They had a good game plan. Obviously Henry had a great game, Tannehill had a great game and we did not.
Q. When you think about this defense and the personnel you have, do you feel like it's a situation where you guys aren't playing to the level that you can or are you concerned that there needs to be more changes made going forward for the defense to give up less yards and less plays?
J.J. WATT: I mean if we do our job and we tackle, we're all right. We didn't do that. So that's never going to win you games. And when we do it right, it's good. But we don't do it right anywhere near enough, nowhere even close to the realm of -- so it's extremely frustrating. When you know what you can do, when you do it right and we just -- we're not even close to doing it right. Too often.
Q. I guess along the same lines, J.J., do you feel like you guys are close? Seems like right now there's inconsistency. Sometimes you do it and you feel like you don't. Does it feel like at least you're close?
J.J. WATT: I mean we had a chance -- the offense gave us a chance to win the game today. We didn't do it. Despite everything else that happened, back and forth obviously getting turnovers in the red zone, there's opportunities. There's times when we do it right and we do it well and at the end of the game when it matters most we didn't. And that's what hurts.
Q. When Romeo is going for two he's obviously trying to put a game out of reach, do you think he's showing any lack of confidence in the defense to stop them in the final two minutes?
J.J. WATT: I don't know. That's above my pay grade.
Q. Did you like the call to go for two there?
J.J. WATT: I don't know. That's above my pay grade. I don't know what you're supposed to do there. I don't know.
Q. You were very disruptive out there. Do you feel like where you're at now you're at the top of your game or close to being at the top of your game? I know you're focused on the team and you want to win, but in terms of how you're playing.
J.J. WATT: Yeah. I feel like I had opportunities today, took advantage of a few of them and just needed to make one more play to get a win. And I didn't do that. So like I said, I put that on me. I gotta go out there and make a play and win the game, and I didn't do that at the end. So I gotta find ways to make more plays.
Q. The play action game, you talked about that during the week before you guys played them. You guys were well aware of it, knew about it. What makes it so tough? Is it the threat of Henry because you have to respect that so much? What is it about their play action that makes it so effective?
J.J. WATT: When you have a running back can do what they do and running offense that can do what they do and also a quarterback that throws the way he does, it makes it very difficult for defense because it keeps you honest. So you have to be extremely disciplined in what you're doing as a defense. Everybody has to be doing their jobs at all times. And if one guy or two guys don't do their jobs, it can make for a massive gaping hole. And unfortunately we were in that situation a few times today and they were able to take advantage of it. They're a very good football team. They deserve a ton of credit. They do what they do very well. And like I said, we had opportunities to stop them and win the game and we didn't do it. So give them credit. They're a very good football team.
