Watt & Co. aim to get more defensive against run
It was an eerily familiar snapshot of the Texans’ frequently disorganized run defense.
Although the breakdown wasn’t nearly as glaring as the shoddy pursuit angles and tackling from two games ago when Miami Dolphins running back Lamar Miller burst up the middle for an uncontested 85-yard touchdown run, a similar issue cropped up Sunday.
On a toss sweep to his right, Tennessee Titans running back Antonio Andrews bolted outside as left defensive end J.J. Watt and nose tackle Vince Wilfork got bunched up and stuck to blocks inside, while middle linebacker Brian Cushing couldn’t break free from a block.
Wilfork hustled outside, but he missed an arm tackle as Andrews ran through and around outside linebacker John Simon and safeties Andre Hal and Quintin Demps. Texans rookie cornerback
Kevin Johnson tackled Andrews next to the sideline after a 28-yard gain.
The Texans limited Tennessee to 86 rushing yards on 20 carries and won the game, but they have been vulnerable against the run throughout the first half of the season. Ranked 26th in rushing defense, they’ve surrendered 123.5 rushing yards per game and 4.7 yards per carry.
“I always take the run game personal, even if it’s my fault or not my fault,” said Wilfork, a five-time Pro Bowl selection and two-time Super Bowl champion with the New England Patriots. “Any good football team, you’ve got to be able to play well up front in the run game, and I take pride in that. It’s a lot of little things that we’re doing wrong. It’s nothing big. It’s nothing to get angry about, but you can be disappointed. … It’s an arm tackle, little things we need to take care of. It’s nothing we can’t fix.”
Slow start for Wilfork
Signed to a two-year, $9 million contract this offseason that included $5 million guaranteed, Wilfork was acquired to provide a runstopping presence in the middle of the defense.
His primary job as a massive two-gapping nose tackle is to occupy space and allow the linebackers to make the tackles. Listed at 6-2 and 325 pounds, Wilfork has eight tackles in eight starts with zero stops in the past two games.
Wilfork, 34, has drawn mixed reviews from NFL scouts, but he provided more push and was more active Sunday than recent games. Wilfork had 47 tackles and an interception last season for the Patriots.
“I thought Wilfork was absolutely done earlier this year, but I’m convinced now you can’t put their decline all on him,” said an NFL personnel director who spoke on condition of anonymity. “He’s on the ground more than the past and has lost range, but he’s still a big old guy you have to account for. He’s got solid football left in him.
“The bigger problem is their inside linebackers. Cushing isn’t as explosive as he used to be, and they’ve got no one proven to line up next to him.”
The Texans have given up 988 rushing yards and seven touchdown runs this season, with a large chunk of the yards coming up the middle on 70 plays for an average of 4.29 yards per carry. When opponents have run off right guard, they’ve averaged 5.7 yards.
“Very intelligent, very steady, very consistent, rarely makes a mistake, rarely out of position, just a very steadying, solid guy who plays the run extremely well,” Texans defensive line coach Paul Pasqualoni said of Wilfork. “Probably isn’t given enough credit for how well he can collapse the pocket, too. I mean, he can push people back.”
Running in Watt’s direction hasn’t mustered many yards with the exception of outside runs on the perimeter of the defense. Opponents have averaged 5.12 yards on 16 runs outside of Watt to his side.
Teams have run directly at Watt 11 times, averaging just 1.91 yards per carry. When they’ve attempted to run behind their left guard, they’ve averaged 3.04 yards on 25 runs.
“There’s some things that we do well, then there’s times where it’s just not good,” Watt said. “We need to make sure we do the good things more often and we do the bad things less often. It’s a matter of just getting things corrected.
“I think on Sunday, we did a great job of tackling. We all played together as a defense. Guys really flying around, swarming to the football, having a whole bunch of blue jerseys around the ball. That’s what we need.”
The Texans were far more aggressive against the Titans, particularly rushing the passer. They sacked backup Zach Mettenberger seven times and had 14 quarterback hits.
Everything clicked in the fourth quarter when Wilfork collapsed the pocket and allowed Watt to converge on Mettenberger from behind for a sack and forced fumble recovered by defensive end Jared Crick.
Watt stellar as usual
Against the Titans, Watt, 26, tied a career high with nine quarterback hits and had five tackles, 2½ sacks, one tackle for a loss and the forced fumble.
“He’s a special player,” Wilfork said. “I’m just happy to be able to play with him. A lot of offenses have nightmares about how they want to block him and have to draw up schemes against him. He has a motor. He never stops. He brings a whole different dynamic to the game.”
Although Watt (6-5, 289) has drawn criticism in NFL circles with scouts saying his freelancing attempts to loop around tackles to try to make big plays have created large running lanes, his production is unquestioned.
Midway through the 2014 season, Watt had 32 tackles, seven sacks, 24 quarterback hits, 10 tackles for losses, one forced fumble and seven pass deflections. This year, Watt has 40 tackles, 8½ sacks — tying him with the Patriots’ Chandler Jones and the Bengals’ Carlos Dunlap for most in the NFL — 25 quarterback hits, 15 tackles for losses, one forced fumble and five pass deflections.
“He works his butt off,” said Pasqualoni, a former Syracuse coach who coached the Chicago Bears’ defensive line last year. “He prepares for every detail. I think the fact that he plays with such a high motor and he’s such a smart player results in a lot of production.”
Still, it bothers Watt the Texans haven’t been stingier against the run.
“I take everything personal,” Watt said. “Every aspect of the game.”