Texans edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. had the game of his life on Thursday night. He had six tackles, 2.5 sacks for 31.5 yards, three quarterback hits and a pass defensed that nearly was an interception.
The AFC defensive player of the week honor likely is already won, although Texans safety Calen Bullock should receive consideration for the three takeaways he had in the 23-19 win over the Bills. (It's also likely another week that Browns edge rusher Myles Garrett doesn't win the award no matter how many sacks he has. Garrett, arguably the league's best defensive player, has not won the award since Week 12 of the 2024 season.)
On one of his sacks of Josh Allen, Anderson traveled 51.7 yards chasing the Bills quarterback, per Next Gen Stats. That is the longest distance traveled for a sack since Week 2 of 2023 and is higher than any other Texans defender in the past 10 years.
Allen lost 18 yards on the play, as Anderson nearly sacked him at the beginning of the play before Allen spun out of it. Anderson got up and chased Allen left and then back right before finally tackling him.
"That just goes back to the relentless rush," Anderson said, via video from Aaron Wilson of KPRC. "I think coach really hit it on the head this week. It's like, 'Man, whatever it takes to get him down. You're going to miss him once, but pop back up and get him again.' It's just crazy. . . . [Our goal was to] just be relentless in everything we do this week."
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