Texans’ Will Anderson Jr.: ‘We can’t lose to’ teams like Titans, Jets in future

Will Anderson Jr. and the Houston Texans went 10-7, claimed the AFC South and won an AFC wild-card game for a second consecutive season, but their season ended the same way as last year: losing on the road in the divisional round.

Speaking two days after the Texans’ 23-14 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, Anderson stressed the importance of getting a higher seed in the playoffs, which involves taking care of teams below them. 

“It’s great [the Texans’ recent success], but we’ve got to win these regular-season games so we can get home-field advantage. … we can’t lose to these teams like the Titans and Jets,” Anderson said Monday, according to NFL.com. “We’ve got to beat Detroit. We can’t suffer losses. We’ve got to get home-field advantage. And that’s really going to help us. But if we don’t, we gotta find a way on the road to win.”

In Week 12, the Texans fell to the Titans, who finished tied for the worst record in the NFL (3-14) this season and own the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. They also lost to the Jets (5-12) and Lions (15-2) in back-to-back weeks, blowing a 23-7 halftime lead in the latter. 

Furthermore, Houston merely beat one team in the regular season that finished with a winning record (Buffalo Bills); five of its seven regular-season losses were to teams that made the playoffs.

Speaking on the future, Anderson is bullish on Houston’s prospects.

“We’re right there. I don’t care what nobody says. This is a fantastic team,” Anderson said. “We’ve got our quarterback. We’ve got everything we need. We’ve got to keep stacking and keep persevering. We have a squad. We have a great team. We just gotta keep finding ways.

“If you look at all the teams that’s in the AFC, they’re just finding a way to win, and that’s what we’ve got to do a better job of. Finding a way.”

Last season, the Texans lost to the Baltimore Ravens in the divisional round, 34-10, after beating the Cleveland Browns in the wild-card round, 45-14.

Anderson, who just finished his second season, totaled 11 sacks, 37 combined tackles, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery in 14 regular-season games this year; he missed three games due to an ankle injury. Last season, Anderson logged seven sacks, 45 combined tackles and earned a Pro Bowl honor.

Anderson wreaked havoc in the postseason, posting a combined 3.5 sacks and four tackles for loss in two games. As a whole, Houston boasted one of the best defenses in the NFL this season, surrendering just 201 passing yards (sixth in the NFL), 114 rushing yards (11th), 315 total yards (sixth) and 21.9 points (14th) per game in the regular season.

Concerning the offense, the Texans have quarterback C.J. Stroud, who’s one season removed from being the Offensive Rookie of the Year. As for Stroud’s pass-catching corps, the Texans have wide receivers Nico Collins — who has posted 1,000-plus receiving yards in each of the past two seasons — and Tank Dell and tight end Dalton Schultz. Dell, however, faces a long recovery after tearing his ACL and dislocating his knee in December.

On the other side of the ball, Anderson is joined by premier pass rusher and four-time Pro Bowler Danielle Hunter and linebacker Henry To’oTo’o, among others. In the back end, the Texans have defensive backs Derek Stingley Jr. and Calen Bullock, who combined for 12 interceptions in the regular season and postseason.

Houston will select 25th in the 2025 NFL Draft.

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