1st quarter of season defensive summary

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by TimeKiller

In all seriousnessosity, Cody is a stop gap/backup guy forced into playing time. Mitchell isn't the interior pass rusher Wade made him to be either. Both are just good effort guys who try to help the other players tug on the rope. Until they get a solid (preferably big and fat) run stopper at the nose the rush average won't go down. Good news is with Ryans, Cushing, Manning and Quin playing up the middle there isn't a lot of room for would be breakout runs. So it's kind of a "as long as the pass D is good we can live with the runs" deal.

I seriously doubt Wade is satisfied with where this team is defensively, especially when it comes to the run defense.

But Rome wasn't built in a day & Phillips has had a total of what, 8 weeks?

I can't wait to see them play in November.

[The Pencil Neck]

Originally Posted by thunderkyss

I seriously doubt Wade is satisfied with where this team is defensively, especially when it comes to the run defense.

But Rome wasn't built in a day & Phillips has had a total of what, 8 weeks?

I can't wait to see them play in November.

Hmmm... I don't know. Personally, I can't wait to see them play in January and February.

[b0ng]

Originally Posted by The Pencil Neck

Hmmm... I don't know. Personally, I can't wait to see them play in January and February.

Then we have to beat the Titans at least once this year and it'd be nice to beat one of either Oakland or Baltimore (preferred a win over both).

[TimeKiller]

Originally Posted by thunderkyss

I seriously doubt Wade is satisfied with where this team is defensively, especially when it comes to the run defense.

But Rome wasn't built in a day & Phillips has had a total of what, 8 weeks?

I can't wait to see them play in November.

For sure, the group still has some gellin' to do. But acquiring new skills is probably not among the changes we can expect in the coming months...Neither DT is a run stopping guy OR a solid pass rusher. They're just high effort fellas.

[speedfreek]

the Texans are 4th in scoring defense. That's all that
matters.

I don't care if they give up 1,000 yds/game passing or
rushing or whatever.

If they continue to only give up 17.5 points per game
they are going to win a LOT of games

TJ

[Señor Stan]

The defense is better than I hoped given there were no OTAs and they had to try to pick it all up in camp. I think Wade is adding new looks all the time and the defense is only going to get better.

This unit believes in itself, which is huge.

[RagingBull]

If you take away Saints game they are only allowing 10 ppg.
If you take away only the 4th quarter of the Saints game, they are averaging only 13 ppg.

I know you can't do that but looking at the rest of the schedule we should end up with a top5 defense, barring injuries.

[VTexan]

Originally Posted by speedfreek

the Texans are 4th in scoring defense. That's all that
matters.

I don't care if they give up 1,000 yds/game passing or
rushing or whatever.

If they continue to only give up 17.5 points per game
they are going to win a LOT of games

TJ

I'd imagine we'd be first if we didn't have 2 Td's called back by penalties!

[TheMatrix31]

Like I said from the beginning;

As long as this team is between 10-17 in total defense, we'll be more than fine.

But if this keeps going, we can even be higher than that! That's amazing.

[EVOLVIST]

Originally Posted by TimeKiller

Until they get a solid (preferably big and fat) run stopper at the nose the rush average won't go down.

Except that's not how Wade rolls. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's said it, but he likes his NTs athletic and a little on the, ummm...slimmer side.

But I mean, hey, Wade might get a nudge from Kubiak to head in that direction and/or the FO. Hell, there might be a big ol' NT in the draft that's 350+ and sprints like lightning.

But that's not today. So I worry.

[DocBar]

The two biggest stats is #4 in ppg and +24.2 in passer rating differential. If we can stay among the top in those, we could very well be SB bound.

[Señor Stan]

One of the biggest things is that the D is not giving up the big play...

Touchdowns of 3, 12, 30, 27, 16, and 13 yards.

[gtexan02]

1st half stats are as follows, with comparison to 1st quarter

As of right now (before the MNF game) the Texans D is ranked
1. 10th overall in yards per game
2. 10th in pass yards per game
3. 15th in rush yards per game

Now
1. 3rd in overall yards per game
2. 5th in pass yards per game
3. 6th in rush yards per game

Looking at more accurate metrics, we are ranked
1. 7th in QB rating against
2. 27th in rush yards per attempt
3. 4th in points per game
4. 18th in 3rd down %
5. 8th in turnover differential

1. 3rd in QB rating against
2. 17th in rush yards per attempt
3. 5th in points per game
4. 4th in 3rd down %
5. 5th in turnover differential

What I think it means:
First of all, we have played 1 terrible team (Colts), 1 below average team (Miami), 1 above average team (Steelers), and 1 excellent team (Saints).
Our numbers should be pretty accurate/balanced from this point on because we've played a pretty balanced looking schedule.

Second, our pass defense is much improved over past seasons. The reasons in my mind are better corner and safety play, better pass rush, better use of hands. The last one is particularly important. The texans traditionally give up a very high completion percentage to opposing QBs. With hands in the air, we've given up only 55% completion, good 7th in the NFL.

Our run defense has looked pretty porous. ~5 yards per carry is pretty bad. I was pleasantly surprised to see us shut down Mendenhall, but then worried by how badly the Steeler backups gashed us.

What do I think it means now? I think we have a legitimate top 10 defensive team. The numbers have gotten even better than through the first quarter and in the 2nd quarter we played Oakland, Ravens, Titans, Jaguars

No elite QBs certainly, but Hassleback was rated as one of the best performers this year by ESPNs new QB metric and was terrible against us. Raiders, Ravens and Jags all have excellent run games.

Just thought that Id give an update

[76Texan]

Thanks for the recap.
Are those numbers 1st qtr vs 2nd qtr
or
1st qtr vs overall 1st half?
....


So the run D is doing better even against better running team.
Should we have big concerns about our NTs?

[gtexan02]

Originally Posted by 76Texan

Thanks for the recap.
Are those numbers 1st qtr vs 2nd qtr
or
1st qtr vs overall 1st half?
....


So the run D is doing better even against better running team.
Should we have big concerns about our NTs?

1st quarter vs 1st half overall

[The Pencil Neck]

Originally Posted by 76Texan

Thanks for the recap.
Are those numbers 1st qtr vs 2nd qtr
or
1st qtr vs overall 1st half?
....


So the run D is doing better even against better running team.
Should we have big concerns about our NTs?

Yeah, 1st quarter vs. 1st half means that our defense has been playing lights out the 2nd quarter.

I guess I'll have to admit I was totally and completely wrong in my fears about the NT spot.

[TheMatrix31]

Unreal the turnaround.

[DocBar]

Originally Posted by The Pencil Neck

Yeah, 1st quarter vs. 1st half means that our defense has been playing lights out the 2nd quarter.

I guess I'll have to admit I was totally and completely wrong in my fears about the NT spot.

You can thank Phillips for the improved run stopping. It looks like he saw the weakness and adjusted for it by calling more run blitzes. We blitz ~56% of the time and a lot of them appear designed to stop the run 1st and get to the qb 2nd. All in all, our D is rockin and I love it.