‘Going to be fun,’ Texans All-Pro corner Derek Stingley Jr. on elite matchup against Rams’ Puka Nacua, Davante Adams

LOS ANGELES – Backpedaling smoothly, reacting fast and mirroring receivers’ moves, two of the best young cornerbacks in the game combined for eight interceptions a year ago.

Between All-Pro cornerback Derek Stingley Jr., the Texans’ $90 million man, and cornerback Kamari Lassiter, the secondary was basically a no-passing zone as they routinely locked down their opponents with tight coverage and an ultra-physical style.

Stingley allowed just 382 passing yards and an opposing quarterbacks’ passer rating of 51.2. In his rookie season, Lassiter yielded a 43.8 completion percentage, 424 total passing yards and an opposing passer rating of 64.0.

Now, one of the top cornerback tandems in the NFL square off with the Los Angeles Rams’ elite wide receiver tandem of Puka Nacua and Davante Adams.

It’s an outstanding matchup to watch in Sunday’s season-opener at SoFi Stadium.

“Yeah, it’s going to be fun,” Stingley told KPRC 2. “We’re going to go out there and compete. That’s all we can do.”

Adams mastered the route tree years ago. He is known as one of the top route runners in football.

Adams, 32, is a six-time Pro Bowl selection who has maintained a high standard. He caught a touchdown pass last season for the New York Jets against Lassiter from Aaron Rodgers. He has 967 career catches for 11,844 yards and 103 touchdowns.

“Davante, he’s one of the best at the beginning of the snap, the middle and the end,” Stingley said. “He’s just one of those great receivers.”

Last season, after being traded from the Las Vegas Raiders to reunite with Rodgers, his former Green Bay Packers teammate, Adams caught 67 passes for 854 yards and seven scores for the Jets.

“He has everything in his bag, from a route tree and getting open standpoint,” Texans defensive coordinator Matt Burke said. “The big play they hit on us last year, they moved him inside and put him in the slot. He can run it from everywhere. He’s a good, isolated route runner.

“He’s a good one-on-one player. He’s got everything in terms of the route tree, what he can run, where he can line up and how he gets open. So, it’ll be a great challenge for us.”

Eight years younger than Adams, Nacua is an extremely physical and polished downfield target. He was named to the Pro Bowl as a rookie and a second-team All-Pro, catching 105 passes for 1,486 yards and six touchdowns as a rookie.

“Great at catching the ball, whether he creates space or not,” Stingley said. “If he gets his hands on it, he’s probably gonna catch the ball. He’s good at the top of the route. He’s a good receiver.”

Nacua told Los Angeles reporters this week he expects himself and Adams to present a difficult challenge for defenses.

“It feels surreal,” said Nacua, who previously teamed up with Cooper Kupp. “But I know it’s going to be a headache for the defense across from us.”

While the Texans readily acknowledge it’s a difficult task containing the Rams’ receivers, they have a strong track record of containing talented receivers as one of the best defenses and secondaries in the NFL.

This is an unusually good duo, though.

“Puka Nacua and Davante Adams, two talented, big-time playmakers,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “They’re going to find ways to get these guys to football because we know they’re great with the ball in their hands. They can make you miss, they can hit explosive [plays] down the field, everything you want from a receiving standpoint, both guys are able to do that.

“For us, it’s going to be a collective effort. It’s not about one corner covering one guy, it’s about collectively, how are we going to stop these guys as a defense? They’re going to move guys around all over the place, so we just have to be on it. If we play the game the right way, everybody is on it, then we’ll be just fine.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com