Texans ready for prime time
One of the NFL’s all-time great coordinators, Crennel a big part of 7-game winning streak
As the Texans prepare for Monday night’s game against Tennessee and what has become the most important time of their season, coach Bill O’Brien and the defensive players feel comfortable and confident knowing Romeo Crennel is their coordinator.
Comfortable in Crennel’s hybrid 3-4/4-3 system and confident he’ll make the correct calls and put them in the right situations in the last six games, which will determine if they earn an AFC South title and a possible first-round playoff bye.
Crennel, recognized as one of the greatest defensive coordinators in NFL history, has splendid position coaches on his side of the ball. It’s no surprise defense is the Texans’ strength and has been a huge factor in their seven-game winning streak, 7-3 record and 1½-game division lead over Indianapolis.
“He’s definitely the greatest,” cornerback Johnathan Joseph said last week. “Every week is different for us. There’s always something new.”
Crennel has 37 years of NFL experience. He’s got a Super Bowl ring for each of the fingers on his left hand if he’d choose to display them in that manner. He doesn’t, because that’s not his style.
When devising defensive game plans for opponents like the Titans, Crennel challenges his players. He knows what they can handle mentally and physically.
“It’s different wrinkles, different coverages,” Joseph said. “He’s always challenging us to prepare hard and learn more. If we can’t get it done throughout the week, he’ll just toss it out. But if we want to continue to grow, we want to add more bullets and put more things in our stable.”
Crennel, 71, oversees a defense that ranks seventh (330.5 yards), including seventh (96) against the run and eighth (234.5) against the pass.
The Texans are sixth in points allowed (20.5). Over their last six games, they’ve surrendered 16.2 per game.
Crennel has been in more playoff races than he can remember. It’s the best time of the regular season for players and coaches.
“I think the biggest thing about going down the stretch is if you’re still in position to make a playoff run, the attitude of the players picks up, and they stay with the grind and concentrate on the things they have to do to try and win the next game,” he said.
Not only are the Texans wanting to extend their lead over the 5-5 Titans to three games, they’re trying to set a team record with an eight-game winning streak. It’s the first of three consecutive home games. Cleveland and Indianapolis follow Tennessee into NRG Stadium.
First-year Titans coach Mike Vrabel knows Crennel better than most. They won three Super Bowls together at New England. Vrabel was Texans linebackers coach under Crennel for three seasons until being promoted to coordinator in 2017 when Crennel focused on his assistant head coach responsibilities.
“RAC (Romeo A. Crennel) coached me hard, but he was supportive,” Vrabel said this week. “I think he understood my situation when I got to New England (from Pittsburgh). I hadn’t started a lot of games, but he had high expectations for me and held me accountable.
“Then, being able to coach for him was great. He was supportive in all levels last year.”
When Vrabel was hired by Tennessee, O’Brien returned the defense to Crennel.
Crennel can be tough on his players when he thinks it’s warranted, but he tries to be broad-minded with them.
“He listens to the players, some suggestions we may have,” Joseph said. “Throughout the game or the week, any time we feel like we can do this or we can do that, he’s all ears.
“We know he’s going to put us in the best position to make plays.”
O’Brien calls the plays for the offense. Crennel makes the defensive calls. They are good at making ingame adjustments.
The defensive players believe having Crennel as their coordinator is one reason they’ve been able to win so many close games.
“In a lot of those games, throw a curveball,” Joseph said. “He’ll make a call we haven’t run all game just to throw a little monkey wrench in there, throw them off a little bit.
“It (forces) a defense to be disciplined, to be locked in when there’s a crucial situation. He has the confidence in us to pull it off in those moments. There have been some situations like that to close games out because he’s putting us in the right positions, and we’re executing.”
When he played for Arizona, safety Tyrann Mathieu admired Crennel from afar. This season, Mathieu is excelling in Crennel’s system.
“He’s a players’ coach,” Mathieu said. “I think any time we’re dealing with different situations during the game, I don’t think it’s any stretch for me to go talk with him. He’s always openminded. Ultimately, you need that from your defensive coordinator.”
When Crennel is asked how it makes him feel to hear his players speak so glowingly about him, he laughs.
“I think some of that has to do with the fact that I’ve been there and I’ve seen a lot of things,” he said. “They know I can rely on that experience to help them through some issues.
“When you work with people awhile, they begin to develop a trust. They trust me, and I trust them. Part of that is knowing their strengths and weaknesses and trying to put them in the best position to be successful.”
There are two areas where the defense needs to showed marked improvement. The defense is 30th in red-zone touchdowns and 21st on third down.
“During the bye week, we looked at the red zone and third down and tried to put our finger on some things that we can do better,” Crennel said. “We talked to the team about that and tried to put some emphasis on it.
“Hopefully, that’ll sink in going down the stretch, because all of these games are going to be close, and one play can make the difference. If we can make that one play, then we’ll keep winning.”
One statistic they’ve improved significantly this season is reducing explosive plays — runs of at least 15 yards and catches of at least 20 yards. According to “NFL Matchup” on ESPN, the Texans and Bears entered this weekend allowing the fewest explosive plays (32).
“We put emphasis on it, and those guys on the back end (secondary), you have to give them a lot of credit,” Crennel said. “They listen and understand what we need to do. They’ve been doing a good job, for the most part, of staying on top of the receivers and not letting them get behind them.”
The defense has been able to overcome the loss of five cornerbacks in the first seven games and inside linebackers Zach Cunningham and Dylan Cole for significant stretches. All are expected back on the field soon except for cornerback Kevin Johnson, who’s still on injured reserve.
No matter who plays, though, the Texans know the defense is in good hands with Crennel.
“Romeo’s meant a lot to me,” O’Brien said. “Think about his history in the league. He worked for Bill Parcells and won Super Bowls. He worked for Bill Belichick and won Super Bowls. He was a head coach. He’s seen it all, from off-the-field issues to onthe-field issues.
“He’s a great coach and a great man, and we’re all lucky to have him here.”