Secondary a primary focus
But pass rush must combine with coverage
Against the three best quarterbacks the Texans have played, the defense has allowed 12 touchdown passes.
Tom Brady (five), Alex Smith (three) and Russell Wilson (four) torched the secondary in three of the Texans’ four defeats.
Brady (146.2), Smith (130.2) and Wilson (123.2) feasted on the pass defense and compiled QB ratings that embarrassed the defense.
No wonder New England scored 36 points, Kansas City 42 and Seattle 41 against the Texans.
The coverage usually goes hand-in-hand with the pass rush, so there’s more than enough blame to go around. With Indianapolis coming to NRG Stadium, this much is certain: The coverage and rush better improve or the Texans are destined to lose when they tangle with the better quarterbacks.
“It’s team defense,” coach Bill O’Brien said. “You’ve got to combine the rush and the coverage. I don’t care what team it is. If you have no pass rush, and guys are running free on certain plays, it’s going to be hard to stay in coverage, whether it’s man or zone.”
Let’s look at the main reason for the defensive decline, and don’t blame first-year coordinator Mike Vrabel or the position coaches. The defense is playing short-handed.
J.J Watt and Whitney Mercilus were lost for the season. Brian Cushing is suspended. A.J. Bouye, Quintin Demps and John Simon have new ZIP codes. Vince Wilfork is making commercials.
Still, it’s inexcusable to be as bad as the pass defense was in the 41-38 loss at Seattle.
O’Brien mentioned “the extension of plays,” meaning quarterbacks like Wilson and Smith have avoided the rush and made plays off schedule. Remember Brissett?
In their 27-0 loss at New England last season when Brady was suspended and Jimmy Garoppolo was injured, they saw how rookie quarterback Jacoby Brissett could hurt the defense with his running.
On Sunday, Brissett will be starting for the Colts and trying to extend the Texans’ misery.
“We have to do a better job of trying to keep these guys in the pocket, which is much easier said than done,” O’Brien said. “I know our guys are ready to go against Indianapolis.”
They better be because the Texans are desperate to even their record at 4-4 before they travel to Los Angeles to play the Rams.
Against the Seahawks, the defense did an outstanding job against the run, limiting the Seahawks to 33 yards rushing, but the unit couldn’t contain Wilson. He shredded the secondary for 452 yards, including six completions of 20 or more yards.
Wilson had completions of 53, 66, 54 and 48 yards on four scoring drives. That’s 221 yards on four plays.
On the 80-yard, gamewinning scoring drive, Wilson made it look easy, taking Seahawks to a touchdown on three plays. He began with the 48-yard completion to Paul Richardson and ended with an 18-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jimmy Graham.
“To get where we want to be at the end of the year, those are the types of games we’ve got to (win),” cornerback Johnathan Joseph said. “We didn’t make enough plays when we needed to.”
The Texans made physical and mental errors.
They hit Wilson six times, sacked him twice and intercepted him once (by reserve cornerback Marcus Williams), but he escaped the rush and connected to his receivers down the field.
The defense should be better than that. This defense is nowhere near as effective as it was last season, but it has to improve. Missed assignments by young players and players new to the team have to be reduced.
“We’ve got to lock in, and everybody’s got to do their job,” cornerback Kareem Jackson said. “The guys playing are very capable. Everybody has to do what they’re supposed to do every play.” Communication key
Cornerback Kevin Johnson returned from a sprained medial collateral ligament to play against Seattle.
“I can be a lot better,” Johnson said. “It’s definitely going to help me not having to play with the (knee) brace on. … We have to play the way we know how to play. I don’t think anybody’s happy with that (Seattle) performance. The Colts have a good receiving corps. We need to play fundamental football, compete and have fun.”
O’Brien preaches communication between coaches and players. Part of good coaching is making the players understand what they want and what to expect from opponents.
“We’re young in some spots,” O’Brien said. “This includes defense. As a coaching staff — and I’m talking about X’s and O’s — how can we communicate to the players better, especially on game day. That’s where we have to make strides. We (must) clean some of this stuff up, become more consistent.”