Stopping the run has been a problem for the Texans dating back to the 11th game of the 2019 season when they lost 41-7 at Baltimore and surrendered 256 yards rushing.
In their first game at NRG Stadium, the Texans get a rematch with the Ravens and a chance to improve their run defense against the NFL’s No. 1 rushing team last season.
If the Texans’ run defense doesn’t show substantial improvement on Sunday, another substandard performance is inevitable.
In their first game against Cleveland on Sunday, the Ravens tuned up for the Texans by rushing for only 133 yards, but they won 38-6 with quarterback Lamar Jackson throwing for 275 yards and three touchdowns.
In that loss at Baltimore last season, the Texans couldn’t stop any facet of the Ravens’ offense. The Ravens exposed a weakness in the run defense that opposing teams have continued to exploit, including Kansas City in the 34-20 victory over the Texans on Thursday night.
In Anthony Weaver’s debut as defensive coordinator, the Texans allowed 166 yards rushing, 135 by rookie running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire.
The defensive players missed a lot of tackles, a weakness exacerbated by a lack of preseason games because of the coronavirus pandemic.
But the issue with the Texans’ run defense extends to last season — before anyone knew of COVID-19 and how the virus would impact sports.
A hallmark of Bill O’Brien’s defenses used to be a propensity for shutting down opponents’ running games, but not anymore.
From 2014 when O’Brien arrived from Penn State through the first nine games of 2019, the Texans played strong run defense.
In O’Brien’s first five seasons — four with Romeo Crennel at defensive coordinator and one with Mike Vrabel (2017) in that role — they never finished worse than 13th against the run. That was in the injury-plagued 2017 season when they allowed 109.2 yards rushing and finished 4-12.
Going back to O’Brien’s first season through 2018, the Texans’ run defense was 10th (105.1), 10th (99.8), 12th (99.7), 13th (109.2) and third (82.7).
One reason the Texans were so dominant against the run in 2018 was end J.J. Watt played 16 games and outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney played 15.
Clowney was outstanding against the run, and even though he was traded to Seattle before the 2019 season, the Texans’ run defense smothered opponents through the first nine games.
Through those nine games last season, the Texans were 6-3 and allowing 84.1 yards a game rushing. During the last seven games before they played the Ravens, they surrendered 72.3.
After giving up 148 in the opening loss at New Orleans and 103 in their second game, a victory over Jacksonville, they didn’t allow more than 94 in the next seven games. That’s run defense at its finest.
Then they played the Ravens, and the run defense has been in a nosedive ever since.
Beginning with Baltimore, the run defense over the last seven games plunged to 168.6 from 84.1. Counting the two playoff games — a victory over Buffalo and a loss to Kansas City — the run defense over the last nine games allowed opponents to average 166.3 yards rushing.
And the Chiefs continued that trend Thursday night with 166 yards rushing.
The Texans can expect a similar approach by the Ravens. They’ll run until the Texans prove they can stop them.
Last season, the Ravens ran 37 times for 256 yards and a touchdown. The Texans did a good job against running back Mark Ingram, limiting him to 48 yards on 13 carries, but backup Gus Edwards damaged them with 112 yards on eight carries, including a 63-yard touchdown run.
Jackson, who set an NFL record for yards rushing by a quarterback with 1,206, didn’t score a touchdown. Jackson did contribute 79 yards rushing on 10 carries, including a 39-yard run to set up a score. He also threw four touchdown passes and departed with a 139.2 rating.
Two runs by Edwards and Jackson produced 102 of the 256 yards on the ground.
Baltimore’s dominant running game allowed the Ravens to control the ball for 36 minutes and 19 seconds compared to the Texans’ 23:41.
Considering how stifling their run defense had been before the Baltimore game, it wasn’t surprising they considered that performance an aberration against the league’s most dangerous running quarterback.
The tailspin continued in the next two games, but they were able to defeat Indianapolis and New England, despite allowing 175 and 145 yards rushing.
Over the last seven games of the season, only once did they allow fewer than 106 yards rushing. That came in a 38-24 loss to Denver at NRG Stadium, where they surrendered 90.
The Broncos didn’t need to run the ball that day because rookie quarterback Drew Lock threw for 309 yards and three touchdowns in what amounted to the Texans’ worst defensive performance of the season.
In practice this week, Weaver and his defensive players will do everything they can to try to end the pitiful performance against the run.
The Texans know what’s coming from Jackson and his running backs. Containing last season’s best running game appears to be too much to ask for a defense that’s struggled so badly against the run for the last 10 games.
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