HOUSTON TEXANS WEEKLY RELEASE - NFL.com

2009 TEXANS HEADINGNOTESSTINGY SCORING DEFENSEOver the last 13 games of the 2009 season, Houston’s defensewas one of the best in the NFL. In addition to rankingfourth in total defense and second in rushing defense overthat time span, the Texans were ninth in scoring defense.From the beginning of October through the end of the season,Houston allowed only 19.0 points per game.POINTS PER GAME ALLOWED SINCE WEEK 4, 2009Team G TD FG 2pt Sfty Pts PPGDallas Cowboys 13 21 14 0 0 189 14.5New York Jets 13 23 15 0 0 203 15.6Baltimore Ravens 13 22 18 0 0 208 16.0Carolina Panthers 13 25 16 0 0 221 17.0San Francisco 49ers 13 23 23 0 0 228 17.5Green Bay Packers 13 29 9 1 2 234 18.0Cincinnati Bengals 13 26 18 0 0 235 18.1New England Patriots 13 30 9 0 0 235 18.1Houston Texans 13 28 17 0 0 247 19.0FROM OCTOBER ONOver the last 13 games of the season, Houston’s defensewas one of the best in the NFL. In addition to ranking fourthin total defense and second in rushing defense over thattime span, the Texans were ninth in scoring defense. Fromthe beginning of October through the end of the season,Houston allowed a mere 19.0 points per game.POINTS PER GAME ALLOWEDSINCE WEEK 4, 2009Team G TD FG 2pt Sfty Pts PPGDallas Cowboys 13 21 14 0 0 189 14.5New York Jets 13 23 15 0 0 203 15.6Baltimore Ravens 13 22 18 0 0 208 16.0Carolina Panthers 13 25 16 0 0 221 17.0San Francisco 49ers 13 23 23 0 0 228 17.5Green Bay Packers 13 29 9 1 2 234 18.0Cincinnati Bengals 13 26 18 0 0 235 18.1New England Patriots 13 30 9 0 0 235 18.1Houston Texans 13 28 17 0 0 247 19.0Buffalo Bills 13 28 18 2 1 254 19.5TURNING IT AROUNDThe Texans defense struggled early in 2009, giving up anaverage of 436.7 yards and 28.7 points per game throughthe first three weeks of the season. The defense improvedmore than any group in the league, giving up 139.1 feweryards per game in the last 13 games than it did in the firstthree.Houston’s defense went from allowing a league-worst436.7 yards per game in the first three to just 299.1 in thelast 13, ranking fourth in the NFL. On the ground, the Texanswent from giving up 205.0 yards per game over thefirst three games to 84.3 over the rest of the year, whichwas the second-lowest average in the league in that time.DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT,2009 HOUSTON TEXANSFirst 3 Last 13 DifferenceRush Yards/Gm 205.0* 84.3 -120.7Pass Yards/Gm 231.7 214.8 -16.9Total Yards/Gm 436.7* 299.1 -137.6Points/Gm 28.7 19.0 -9.7* Worst in the NFLDE Mario Williams led the Texans with 9.0 sacks in 2009 and wasnamed to the Pro Bowl.48GAME 5 • TEXANS VS. NEW YORK GIANTS • HOUSTONTEXANS.COM