Rush defense has become a problem
Teams have run rampant on Crennel’s unit since Watt’s injury, blowout loss to the Ravens
If the Texans don’t play better run defense in Saturday’s wild card game against a team that likes to run, they’ll be making another quick exit from the playoffs, a routine that seems all too familiar.
Buffalo comes to NRG Stadium with a running game that finished eighth, averaging 128.4 yards. The Texans’ run defense took a nosedive from fifth (85.3 yards) at the midway point of the season to 25th (121.1) at the end.
When the Texans play the Bills, they need to remember what happened to them in the 2018 playoffs and make sure they don’t have a repeat performance.
Last season, defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel designed game plans that helped the Texans finish third against the run (82.6), including first in average per carry (3.4). They didn’t allow a 100-yard rusher all season. In the last five games, they surrendered an average of 51.6 yards.
Then the Texans played Indianapolis in a wild card game at NRG Stadium. The Colts pulverized the Texans’ defense with 200 yards rushing, including 148 by Marlon Mack, in their 21-7 victory.
What should be scary for Texans’ fans entering Saturday’s game is this season’s run defense was awful over the second half of the season in contrast to last year.
Two factors contributed greatly to the demise of the Texans’ run defense over the last eight games. Defensive end J.J. Watt was injured, and they developed a proficiency for allowing long runs, a problem that didn’t plague them over the first half of the season.
Watt returns against the Bills, primarily as a pass rusher, but they could use him against the run, too. Playing such a pivotal role after missing more than two months would be unfair, even for Watt. Still, though, the Texans are a better defensive team with Watt on the field, no matter where he lines up or how much he’s able to contribute.
With or without Watt, the Texans have to eliminate the long runs that have haunted the defense over the last seven games.
When the Texans were 6-3, they didn’t allow a run of more than 30 yards. Beginning with their 41-7 beatdown at Baltimore, they’ve surrendered six runs of more than 30, including five of at least 39.
The problem got a lot worse in the last three games with opponents ripping off runs of 57 yards (Tennessee tight end Jonnu Smith), 49 (Tampa Bay running back Ronald Jones) and 53 (Titans’ running back Derrick Henry).
After the Titans’ 35-14 victory on Sunday, when coach Bill O’Brien kept out nine players, Henry should have presented the Texans’ defense with a game ball.
Henry was closing in on Cleveland’s Nick Chubb, the NFL rushing leader, and when he got loose for his 53-yard touchdown run with 2:54 remaining, it cemented his title. That run gave Henry 32 carries for 211 yards and three touchdowns and enabled him to win the rushing title with 1,540 yards.
Obviously, a defense that finished 28th in the NFL needs Watt in more ways than one.
“J.J. wouldn’t have made a difference on that particular run,” Crennel said about Henry’s touchdown. “We overran our gap. He was going outside, and he was able to put his foot in the ground and cut back, and we were unable to get back and take care of the gap we were supposed to have.
“If you had a healthy J.J., you’d have to say the run defense would improve. J.J. is good on runs to him and runs away from him. They don’t think he can catch them from behind, but he’s able to do that with his intensity, length and speed.”
Too bad Watt isn’t available to play every snap. In the eight games he started before suffering the torn pectoral muscle against Oakland, opponents averaged only 85.3 yards rushing and 4.0 a carry. Not having to contend with Watt for the last eight games allowed opponents to average 156.7 yards rushing and 5.3 a carry.
Nobody is more exasperated than Crennel. Last season, he had Watt for 16 games and outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney
for 15. Both excelled against the run and made the Texans one of the three-toughest defenses to run on.
Issues with long runs began against the Ravens when quarterback Lamar Jackson ran for 39 yards. No big deal in a blowout, right? But then backup running back Gus Edwards had a 63-yard run. The floodgates were open.
“It’s about buckling your chain strap, bearing down and being the more aggressive team,” safety Justin Reid said. “The run game is a test of will. The team that’s more aggressive and wants it more is the team that’s going to make the run or stop the run.”
A big part of run defense is being disciplined and not trying to do another player’s job as well as your own.
“We’ve got to play the defense the way we’re coached to play it,” Reid said. “Don’t try to do too much. Take care of your gap and trust the guy next to you to take care of his gap.”
When a player has a long run against the Texans, it means he’s beaten the front seven and gotten away from the secondary.
“It starts up front, and every guy has a job to do,” cornerback Johnathan Joseph said. “It’s about getting 11 hats on the ball. We’ve got to tackle well. For us in the secondary, if there’s an extended run, it falls on us because we’re the last line of defense.”
The players know what to do, but actually doing it has become a problem that can’t carry over into the Buffalo game.
“We’ve got the players we need to do it,” outside linebacker Brennan Scarlett said. “We have to make sure we communicate along the front and on the back end, and then it’s a matter of making sure we’re in the right place at the right time.”
And if the Texans are in the wrong place at the wrong time, it’ll be time to go home.