Lanschaften » Jadeveon Clowney pounced on a fumble in the end zone

HOUSTON (AP) — for a touchdown on Sunday against the Colts.On the next drive Ryan Griffin Color Rush Jersey , he shoved a lineman out of his path and tossed Andrew Luck to the ground for a 9-yard loss to force a punt.This is what the Houston Texans envisioned when they selected the defensive end with the first overall pick in the 2014 draft.After missing all but four games as a rookie because of a knee injury, Clowney has steadily improved each year and had the best season of his career in 2017 when he played all 16 games for the first time.He’s had some good games in the past, but Sunday was perhaps the finest performance of his career, a game where he made play after play to help the Texans to their first win of the season.Clowney finished with two sacks, four quarterback hits, four tackles for losses and that fumble recovery for a touchdown to earn AFC defensive player of the week honors for the first time in his career.The recognition meant a lot to Clowney after the struggles he’s had since being drafted out of South Carolina.“I’ve been through a lot from the day I walked in here, the first game ever I get hurt, battled back, got hurt again, battled back,” he said. “My back’s against the wall. Just keep battling, competing and showing up. That’s the way I live and that’s what I’m going to keep bringing every week, hopefully.”Coach Bill O’Brien said there’s a simple reason why Clowney has been playing so well this season.“I think he feels better,” O’Brien said. “I think with JD, when he feels good, body-wise, he goes out there and he’s hard to handle.”Clowney missed most of training camp recovering from offseason arthroscopic knee surgery and sat out in Week 2 with a back injury. But he’s feeling great now and it showed on Sunday.He said now that he’s not dealing with any injuries it makes it easier for him to improve during the week at practice.“I’m going to practice every day, working on my craft and just working on stuff I wasn’t good at, trying to get better at it and enhancing stuff I was already good at,” he said.The 25-year-old is trying to use his hands better and come off the corner quicker and said being healthy makes trying new things much easier.After his big game, the question is if this is the Clowney the Texans can expect every week, starting on Sunday night when they host the Dallas Cowboys.“Yeah, I hope so D'Onta Foreman Color Rush Jersey ,” he said. “That’s what I expect out of myself. Just go and put all my effort to this team and my teammates and go out there and compete at a high level.”Clowney has paired with three-time Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt to power a fearsome defensive front.Injuries to both players over the past few years have made it rare for both Watt and Clowney to play together. Now that they are both back on the field they believe that they’ll only get better.“We know what our team is capable of when everybody is out there and healthy and flying around,” Watt said. “We’ve all had our issues in the past with health. If we can stay healthy and we can all put it together at the same time and play the game we know how to play, we have a chance to be pretty good, but it’s a matter of doing it, not talking about it.”Dallas coach Jason Garrett discussed the difficulty of dealing with both Watt and Clowney and how they might try double-teaming them or using tight ends or running backs to try and help slow them down.“Every time those guys go out there, they seem like they’re disrupting what the offense is trying to do,” Garrett said. “They’re both really good run defenders. They can pressure the passer and make those impact plays throughout a game. It’s obviously critical for the guys who are blocking them to be able to handle it and block them well.”But Clowney doesn’t care who they try to block him with, he has just one thought.“Go run through him, get to the quarterback, no matter who I’m going against,” he said. “Just try to run through this guy and get to that quarterback as quickly as possible.”He isn’t sure if Sunday was his best game as a Texan, but has a plan for trying to replicate that success.“I’m just trying to get better week by week, play by play and just keep competing at a high level,” he said. EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — With each victory, the Houston Texans increasingly established themselves as a team to beat in the AFC.Their nine-game winning streak set a franchise record and also raised expectations by the week. So, perhaps their 24-21 loss to Indianapolis last Sunday could, in some way, alleviate some building tension down the stretch.Right, Deshaun Watson?“You only put pressure on yourself,” Watson said. “For us, we don’t really put pressure on ourselves. We don’t really focus on that. Of course, we didn’t want to lose. We always want to win and try to continue to stack those Andre Johnson Color Rush Jersey , but it just kind of goes that way sometimes. It’s the National Football League.“We just try to focus on the next opponent, the next game and try to get back in the win column.”Watson and the Texans (9-4) will get their chance to do that Saturday when they take on Sam Darnold and the struggling New York Jets (4-9).Houston could clinch the AFC South title with a win and then a loss or tie by both Indianapolis and Tennessee on Sunday, or with a tie and losses by both the Colts and Titans. The Texans could also seal a playoff berth with a combination of other scenarios involving several other teams.Either way, they know they can set themselves up nicely with a victory at MetLife Stadium.“With three games left throughout the regular season, I think you home in and focus in,” cornerback Johnathan Joseph said, “especially on one game at a time, 12 quarters of football, however it has to be.”Meanwhile, the Jets are just focused on the finish line — and perhaps the end of coach Todd Bowles’ tenure. New York snapped a six-game skid last Sunday with a 27-23 win at Buffalo, but it would appear Bowles will not be back next season after four years without a trip to the playoffs. General manager Mike Maccagnan is not a certainty to return, either, with some misses in the draft and free agency during his tenure.“It’s the same thing every week: We want to win every game, regardless of whether we’re going to the playoffs or not,” Bowles said. “We want to get every game and get better as a team. That’s all we’re trying to accomplish.”Here are some things to know about the Texans-Jets matchup:WET WEATHERIt’s expected to rain for much of the day, with showers at kickoff. That will be something different for the Texans, whose home stadium — NRG Stadium — features a retractable roof.“You’ve just got to go out there and try to grip the ball as best you can,” said Watson, playing at MetLife for the first time. “You focus on your footwork a little bit more, be cautious with that and understand that the receivers might — depending on the turf or the grass, wherever we’re playing — (focus on) their footwork. … You’ve got to just go play ball.”SAM’S CLUB Darnold returned from a strained foot that sidelined him for three games and went 24 of 30 passing (80.0 percent) in the win against the Bills. It marked the fifth time in team history a player had a completion percentage of 80 or better and the first since Chad Pennington did it twice in 2007.He also showed off some cool nerves by leading his first fourth-quarter comeback.“I think every experience for him, he’s so into it,” offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates said. “He doesn’t get real high Arian Foster Color Rush Jersey , doesn’t get real low, he just takes every moment as a learning moment, both good and bad. So, I think it’s just another moment that he’s going to take for the rest of his career, for the rest of his life and use it as a teaching experience.”MISSING WEAPONSDarnold will be without two key playmakers on offense with top running back Isaiah Crowell (toe) and wide receiver Quincy Enunwa (ankle) both ruled out with injuries.Elijah McGuire and rookie Trenton Cannon will see increased opportunities in the backfield, while Rishard Matthews and Deontay Burnett could be called on to replace Enunwa.WATT’S UPHouston’s J.J. Watt has bounced back this year to have another strong season after playing just eight games over the previous two years because of a back surgery and a broken leg.The defensive end leads the team with 12 1/2 sacks, 22 quarterback hits, 15 tackles for losses and a career-high five forced fumbles. His 88 1/2 career sacks are the second most through a player’s first 101 games, trailing only the 106 that Reggie White had.“The last two years were extremely difficult,” he said. “But, to be here, to be playing meaningful football in December, playing in big games in winter time and me being out there on the field participating in those games, is awesome. This is just, it feels good to be back in that situation, to be back on the field, to be getting the sacks, to be playing good football, to be with the guys.”TAKING CARE OF THE BALLThe Texans did not turn the ball over last week, marking the sixth time this season that they’ve had zero turnovers in a game.It’s the second-best streak in a season in franchise history. A big reason: Watson has thrown just two interceptions in the last seven games after being picked off seven times in the first six games.