Defense against run bad as it gets
Crennel promising to create ‘better plan,’ address mental errors
The Texans’ run defense is bad.
Historically bad.
After getting humiliated at Tennessee, where they surrendered 263 yards rushing in the 42-36 overtime loss to the Titans, the Texans rank last in the NFL against the run again, allowing 177.6 yards a game rushing
At their current pace, the Texans will shatter the franchise record formost rushing yards allowed, 148.1 in 2003, their second year of existence.
Think about that for a second. The Texans’ run defense is so bad it’s worse than the expansion years in which they gave up 130.6 (2002), 148.1 (2003), 115.2 (2004) and 143.9 (2005) — head coach Dom Capers’ last season before he was fired.
The Texans are 1-5 after the defense blew the Tennessee game, and they’ve given up 1,065 yards rushing. That’s 270 yards more than their previous high through the first six games — 795 in 2005.
In 2018 and 2019, the Texans allowed three players to rush for at least 100 yards against them. This season, they’ve allowed four already — Clyde Edwards-Helaire (Chiefs), James Conner (Steelers), Dalvin Cook (Vikings) and Derrick Henry (Titans).
Since interimcoach Romeo Crennel arrived in Houston with Bill O’Brien in 2014, the worst season for run defense was 2019 when they gave up 121.1. The previous high with Crennel on board was 2017 (109.2) when they finished 4-12.
Let’s go back to the origin of this problem that’s plaguing the defense and has turned it into one of the worst in the league and one of the worst in team history.
In 2018, Crennel’s defense finished third against the run, allowing a team-record 82.7 yards a game. After that season, O’Brien traded Jadeveon Clowney, didn’t
offer cornerback Kareem Jackson a new contract and watched safety Tyrann Mathieu sign with Kansas City
Without Clowney, Mathieu and Jackson in 2019, the Texans continued to excel against the run.
Through the first nine games of last season, they gave up 84.1 yards. Then they went to Baltimore, and the Ravens pounded them for 256, and they haven’t been the same since. It’s like the Ravens opened a wound the Texans can’t close.
Over the last nine games last season, including the playoffs, opponents averaged 163.4 yards rushing.
How do you explain it, going from 84.1 to 163.4 in the same season?
The players are getting physically beaten. They’re getting overpowered and knocked off the ball. They’re missing tackles, not playing smart, and they’re not disciplined.
Including the last nine games of 2019 and the first six games of 2020, opponents average 169 rushing yards a game.
Crennel was asked Monday on his Zoom conference call what has happened to his run defense since the 10th game of last season when the Ravens ignited the collapse.
“We’re trying to figure that out, and we’re meeting on that today,” he said. “During this week, we’ll see if we can come up with a better plan than what we have.
“Maybe we have to cut back on some of the things we’re doing to keep the mental errors to aminimum. Then the physical part of it, I think we have guys who can play physical football. Sometimes we don’t always do it. But we have to focus on those two areas and see what we can come up with.”
Sunday was another example of how pitiful the run defense is. Going into the game, Henry had 376 yards rushing and a 3.7yard average per carry. The Texans go against Henry two times a season, so nothing he was going to do should have surprised them.
And it didn’t, other than perhaps being so embarrassed at the way he ran over them and outran them. Henry rushed for 212 yards and two touchdowns, including a 94-yard run.
It’s bad enough to be unable to contain Henry, but the Texans were also shamed by his backup, Jeremy McNichols, who carried five times for 51 yards — a10.2-yard average.
Henry has now rushed formore than 210 yards in back-to-back games against the Texans. Maybe they can catch a break the next time they try to stop Henry. That would be in the last game of the season on Jan. 3, and if the Titans have secured their playoff spot, perhaps coach Mike Vrabel will showmercy by resting Henry.
“We’ve talked about it a little during the course of this year of what’s been happening on the defensive side as far as it relates to the running game,” Crennel said. “A lot of it has to do with gap integrity (and) tackling. I think those are the two biggest areas. We miss tackles and then we’re not disciplined enough to stay in our gaps when we need to.”
Is thatmental or physical or a combination of both?
“A lot of it is mental,” Crennel said. “Sometimes our guys have that tendency to want to get off the block, whether it’s a double (team) or a single. Many times, when it’s a single, it has to do with where the runner. is. If they think they can make the tackle, they’ll get off the block to try to make the tackle. But when they do not make the tackle, that opens up the seam to give a good runner an opportunity to get started.
“Like we talked about during the week with Henry— if you get out of the gap and he gets to the second level, that’s when he becomes really dangerous. I think that’s what we saw.”
What they saw was a blur — the 6-3, 247-pound Henry blowing by them with the speed of an Olympic sprinter.
The run defense has contributed to the defensive demise. The Titans amassed 601 yards, the most the Texans have allowed. Their previous high was 535 against Tennessee in 2003.
And to just rub it in a little more, in the 61-year history of the Oilers/Titans franchise, it had never had a 300-yard passer, a 200yard runner and a 100-yard receiver in the same game.
Until Ryan Tannehill threw for 364, Henry ran for 212 and tight end Anthony Firkser caught eight passes for 113 yards against the Texans.
Now THAT’S historically bad.