The Houston Texans defense has performed great feats and equally as bad ones. One week, they are limiting Patrick Mahomes or Tom Brady; the other, they watch Kyle Allen or Drew Lock slice them up in defeat.
They are, as defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel would put it, inconsistent. “I think there is some inconsistency,” said the veteran defensive coach on Thursday.
Where the Texans have been consistent on defense, however, is that under Crennel in 2019, they have shown resiliency. They can bounce back. According to Football Outsiders, via Rivers McCown, Crennel’s defense has a 3.9% DVOA, an uptick, as compared to the offense.
“What I’ve noticed during the year is that they’ve been able to bounce back. We’ve been able to bounce back and when we lose a game, we can come back and end up winning one, winning a big game,” said Crennel. “So, hopefully that will occur on Sunday, that we’re able to do that, but wishing that it will happen doesn’t make it happen.”
On Sunday, the Texans, as Crennel alluded to, will attempt to bounce back from a loss. They will do so against the 8-5 Tennessee Titans, with the winner taking the defining lead in the AFC South.
Limiting the Titans is no easy task. Once considered an old-school, ground-and-pound and defensive-minded team, Tennessee is scoring at will. They’ve scored 30-plus in their last four. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill leads the NFL in passer rating (118.5) while tailback Derrick Henry has run to the tune of 1,243 yards and 13 touchdowns.
How will the Texans’ defense limit an electric Titans-sized attack in Nashville?
“We have to go out and we have to perform, and we’ve got to do a good job at the line of scrimmage against the line, against the running back, and in the passing game, because they’re going to throw the ball because that keeps a defense off balance.” said Crennel.
“If they have to load up against the run, they know that, so then they throw the play-action and they’ve been hitting plays with the play-action,” Crennel said. “We’re going to have to do a great job overall, got to do a good job on third downs, try to get off the field and not stay on the field. So, all of those things come into play and so we’ve been working at it and we’ll find out if we did any good on Sunday.”
If the Texans did real well, they will have undisputed first place in the AFC South with two games left in the season.
