HOUSTON -- Jadeveon Clowney walked into his postgame news conference Saturday and seemed excited about what had just transpired in the Houston Texans' 27-14 playoff victory over the Oakland Raiders.
“I told y’all,” he said.
He was talking about the Texans winning a playoff game, but he might as well have been talking about the season he has had in leading Houston’s No. 1-ranked defense.
Clowney has become the player the Texans were hoping for when they drafted him No. 1 in 2014. He dealt with injuries in his first two seasons, playing in just 17 of 32 games. This season, he has been the Texans’ best defensive player.
The defensive end is living up to the hype. His play, along with that of outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus, has been pivotal for the Texans, as three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt played in just three games due to injury.
Their front seven is one of the best in the league. If quarterback Brock Osweiler can play as well as he did on Saturday, the Texans might become the latest team to make a playoff run based on a stalwart defense.
Clowney and the rest of the Texans' defense has made big plays all season. The pivotal moment in Saturday's game came in the first quarter, deep in Raiders territory, when Clowney knocked Connor Cook’s pass out of the air and juggled the ball until he caught it for his first career interception. One play later, running back Lamar Miller ran in for the first touchdown of the game, giving Houston a 10-0 lead.
Texans coach Bill O’Brien said Clowney made “a great play" on the ball, something he has done all season.
“One thing about JD is he goes to the ball,” O’Brien said. “He makes plays on the football even when he’s getting after the quarterback or tackling the running back. There’s a chance that he could get the ball. He’s got that knack, and that was a very nice play by him.”
Clowney said all the film he watched was the key to picking up the play.
“When [Jalen Richard] came into the game, we knew they like to get the ball to him," Clowney said. "He’s a screen guy. He ran away from me. If he didn’t cut me, I knew he was going to throw the ball, so he didn’t go for the cut like I thought off the rush. I made a play on the ball.”
This season, Clowney had a career-high six sacks, a forced fumble, two passes defensed and 52 tackles, including 16 for a loss. His two passes defensed against the Raiders is tied for fifth most in Texans playoff history.
“He just changes the game,” cornerback A.J. Bouye said. “We miss J.J. [Watt], but he’s just that good of a presence. He shows you why he’s No. 1 overall.
“I told him toward that last drive, ‘Man, just be great, because at the end of the day, people don’t know what you went through off the field, what you had to hear from everybody else.’ So just for that, just what to see what he’s doing week in and week out consistently, it’s a big thing.”