The New England Patriots defense needs to do a much better job of containing speedy quarterbacks like Lamar Jackson.
While they failed to stifle Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens offense at the beginning of November, a few members of the New England defense identified what they need to do to contain Houston Texans QB DeShaun Watson on Sunday night.
"We have to do a good job of just trying to keep him in the pocket, and make him beat us from being in the pocket," safety Duron Harmon said, according to Mike Reiss of ESPN. "Don't let him run around, because when he's scrambling and running around, that's when he's at his best."
Watson has led his team to a 7-4 record with 2,899 yards on the season and 20 touchdowns. Devin McCourty echoed what Harmon had to say, emphasizing the importance of maintaining control.
"So it's a game for us where everyone has to be disciplined," McCourty said. "For us, on the back end, you don't want it to happen but there are going to be some plays in the game where we have to cover for 8-10 seconds. Because he's that good."
The last time the Patriots and Texans met, New England came away with a 27-20 victory. Patriots-Texans kicks off at 8:20 p.m. ET Sunday at NRG Stadium.
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