The Houston Texans haven’t won many meaningful games, despite the overwhelming presence of J.J. Watt. Michael Irvin thinks there’s something wrong with this picture.
In a heated debate on NFL Network about the NFL Top 100 list, Irvin argued that Houston should be winning more with such an impactful defender on its squad. He compared Watt to Carolina Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly, who apparently in Irvin’s eyes is much more of an impact player.
“I tell people all the time that defense doesn’t win championships,” Irvin said. “It’s the turnovers and the scoring defense that wins championships. Luke Kuechly, he scores touchdowns on interceptions. He doesn’t have to go on offense to score. He scores (from) his main position. I don’t want to just see you raise your hand and you playing great. I want to see you make others play great. That’s what Luke Kuechly does.”
Never mind that both Kuechly and Watt have the same amount of defensive touchdowns in their careers (three) and that Watt has actually scored three times as a tight end on offense. Never matter than many of Watt’s sacks lead to fourth downs, or that he has forced 15 fumbles in his career and batted down more passes than Hakeem Olajuwon (slight exaggeration).
None of that seems to matter to Irvin, who not only said he’d choose Kuechly over Watt but then launched into why Watt isn’t doing enough to help the Texans, with just two playoff wins since he’s been a part of the team (and for all time, for that matter).
“Whose fault is it? He’s the star of the team,” Irvin roared. “If the Dallas Cowboys lose on my watch, it’s my fault. If you’re the baddest man on the team, you’ve got to take it both ways when it ain’t going right and you ain’t winning, that’s on you. J.J. Watt’s been the baddest man in the league and they haven’t gotten close to any kind of championship.”
What Irvin fails to mention is that there hasn’t been a single season in which Houston has featured a playoff-caliber quarterback leading the offense. That is kind of a major detail that factors heavily when talking about teams that win in the postseason.
In truth, it’s remarkable that the Texans won any playoff games at all or even got into the postseason, based on their quarterback play since Watt joined the league as a rookie out of Wisconsin in 2011.
Skip Bayless would be proud of Irvin’s argument this time around.