Preparation is key for any NFL team’s game plan, but Houston Texans receiver Phillip Dorsett told reporters on Tuesday that one key factor plays the biggest role in a team’s success on third down. After careful film study and analysis of their opponent’s tendencies, he explained to the media that coming down with receptions in drive-defining moments is crucial to the Texans’ fortunes in every matchup they’ll face moving forward.
“Just understanding what coverages the team we’re playing plays, and then just work on the plays to try and execute,” Dorsett said when asked how the team is preparing to continue their improvement on third down. “The biggest thing about third down is completing the passes. We all know… you’ll probably get man coverage and some blitz. It’s just the offensive line holding up and Davis (Mills) finding the right guy and the right read. Going to your playmakers, going to the guys you know will help you. The sure-handed guys. That’s the big emphasis honestly.”
Every game they play presents new opportunities for the Texans to show new signs of life as they continue through the early stages of what promises to be a lengthy and arduous rebuilding process. Houston fans are ready to see week-to-week improvement from this up-and-coming squad of scrappy underdogs, and third downs would be an ideal situation for the team to prove that they are getting better as the 2022 season wears on.
To hear Dorsett tell it, turning third downs from a weakness to a strength should be relatively easy. All they need to do, according to the veteran receiver, is get the ball into the hands of their most reliable playmakers and rely on their film study to tell them what their best option is.
The team showed that they could convert third downs at a reasonable clip last week against the Las Vegas Raiders, but the Tennessee Titans will likely put up a better fight in Week 8. Watch for the strategy that Dorsett laid out to make or break Houston’s effort in Sunday’s matchup, and for the team to target a slew of different pass catchers in crunch-time situations.
