BALTIMORE, Md. – Hours of film study paid off for Texans veteran cornerback Steven Nelson on Sunday. Nelson anticipated a crossing route from rookie wide receiver ZayFlowers on the second defensive series of the game, recognizing a familiarity to what Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken did with his playbook at the University of Georgia.
Nelson undercut the route and dove for an interception, his first since last season against the Tennessee Titans in the eighth week of the season.
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“Watched a lot of Georgia tape, the play was similar to something we saw a lot, something he liked to do, spread the route,” Nelson said. “I made a break on the ball. That was something we studied.”
The Texans wound up losing, 25-9, to a returning playoff squad at M&T Bank Stadium, but limited Jackson to 169 passing yards and no touchdowns. He finished with a 79.5 passer rating, was sacked four times and rushed for just 38 yards.
Nelson expressed confidence that there are many things from the performance the Texans (0-1) can build on.
“Absolutely, I think we did a lot of good things on defense,” he said. “Offense did some good things as well. It’s a tough team. We just got to watch the film and get better.”
Nelson hit a career milestone, starting his 100th career game and intercepted the 10th pass of his career. Nelson, who signed an upgraded contract at the start of training camp with a maximum value of $6.5 million, is in his ninth NFL season.
“It means a lot, man,” Nelson said. “It’s a big deal for me personally to be playing for a long time and to be able to reach that accomplishment, it means a lot.”
The Texans allowed 265 yards of total offense, 18 first downs, 8 of 15 third down conversions and three red zone scores.
The secondary lost Jalen Pitre to a bruised lung Sunday, and was playing without safety Jimmie Ward due to a hip injury.
Eric Murray replaced Ward in the lineup, and M.J. Stewart replaced Pitre. Stewart recovered a fumble. Murray had three tackles for the Texans, who lost in new coach DeMeco Ryans’ debut one year after going 3-13-1 under former coach Lovie Smith.
“It’s a long season,” Murray said. “We put a lot of emphasis on the first game, but just got to learn from it and grow from it. It’s always been like that. We help each other. We know the work we put in. Whoever’s opportunity it is, just steps in. We did some good things on defense. Until the half, it was a pretty tight game. Got to keep building, don’t want to have that sentiment every game like last year.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com
