Can we talk about the big fat elephant in the room for a second...

[Brisco_County]

Originally Posted by gtexan02

We gave up 79 yards against the Dolphins. They averaged 4.2 yards per carry. We gave up 0 touchdowns. We forced 2 (3?) fumbles.


In 2011 our rushing defense gave up 96 yards per game. Other teams averaged 4.1 yards per carry. We gave up 8 TDs (0.5 per game). We forced 8 fumbles (0.5 per game).

So not to be rude, but what are you talking about? Our run defense was nearly identical to 2011. In fact, we were arguably better in many respects.

By the way, the Dolphins are averaging 178 yards per game against teams not named the Texans. So yeah, holding them to 79 is pretty damn good.

I saw running lanes being imposed on consecutive downs that were concerning, especially by a team that hasn't been able to run the ball until they got to Houston. If the numbers indicate that there's nothing to worry about, then I welcome being proven wrong.

[gtexan02]

Originally Posted by Brisco_County

I saw running lanes being imposed on consecutive downs that were concerning, especially by a team that hasn't been able to run the ball until they got to Houston. If the numbers indicate that there's nothing to worry about, then I welcome being proven wrong.

Today I agree. We gave up a lot of yards on the ground to a team that hasn't shown anything this season. Anything.

But the Miami game was blown out of proportion. They have a very good running team this season. They put up 90 on the Cardinals who have an excellent defense as well, and that was with Bush at half speed

[eriadoc]

So they had 86 yards on 17 carries through 3 quarters (that's over 5YPC) and most everyone is just brushing it off like no big deal? OK, it's not a big deal, I get that. But it's a potential pitfall. How many yards total did Foster rack up, by the way?

[Corrosion]

Originally Posted by Brandon420tx

58 yards in one half isn't exactly gashing a team

No , its not gashing a team but it is effective rushing .... which keeps a defense off balance and can lead to big plays off of play action.

The Texans had 51 rushing yards at the half .... (went back over the play by play on NFL.com).

[Stemp]

Originally Posted by eriadoc

So they had 86 yards on 17 carries through 3 quarters (that's over 5YPC) and most everyone is just brushing it off like no big deal? OK, it's not a big deal, I get that. But it's a potential pitfall. How many yards total did Foster rack up, by the way?

It was 1 GAME! We've played run defense well for 3 weeks and wehave one subpar game in that regard in a blowout and people are trying to make a big deal about it. No team is going to be great against the run every single game. If the Jets or Packers gouge us for big yards we'll be concerned, but for now, expect the coaches to clean it up.

[eriadoc]

Originally Posted by Stemp

It was 1 GAME! We've played run defense well for 3 weeks and wehave one subpar game in that regard in a blowout and people are trying to make a big deal about it. No team is going to be good against the run every single game. If someone the Jets or Packers gouge us for big yards we'll be concerned, but for now, expect the coaches to clean it up.

Well, I don't know what "people" are trying to do, but since you quoted my post, I'll redirect you to the relevant section that you must have overlooked:

OK, it's not a big deal, I get that. But it's a potential pitfall.

[Stemp]

Originally Posted by eriadoc

Well, I don't know what "people" are trying to do, but since you quoted my post, I'll redirect you to the relevant section that you must have overlooked:

Everything is a potential pitfall.

- Potential Injuries
- Running yards (less than 100 for the game)
- Lack of catches for AJ (only 4 for 56)
- Lack of production by other WR (3 for 27)

I don't see why people want to look at downside of things.

[eriadoc]

Originally Posted by Stemp

Everything is a potential pitfall.

- Potential Injuries
- Running yards (less than 100 for the game)
- Lack of catches for AJ (only 4 for 56)
- Lack of production by other WR (3 for 27)

I don't see why people want to look at downside of things.

We have no reason to worry about injuries yet, because they haven't been cropping up. When they do, there will be plenty of wailing and gnashing of teeth.

We have no reason to worry about AJ, because he's been making explosive plays when they've targeted him. They haven't needed to target him more, so there's no cause for concern yet. The next time he trips over a yard marker, the concern will crop up.

We have no reason to be concerned about the production of the other WRs, aside from a couple drops from Keshawn Martin, because they haven't presented as symptoms yet. On balance, the #2 WR (OD) has been doing well, the #3WR (KW) has been doing well, and no one worries about the #4 or lower WR, for the most part.

Now, let's talk about actual symptoms that have cropped up -- the running game on both sides of the ball. It's been a problem. It hasn't cost a game yet, but it's been a problem. So it's a small problem, and not a big deal yet. But it's there, unlike the other issues you mention.

I trust you can tell the difference.

[Grid]

I look at the yards per attempt...and that is what worries me. You have to consider that we had them playing from behind the entire game, and we also won the time of possession war. So even though the total rushing yards that CJ got in the first three quarters was not huge, if you consider his yards per attempt.. it is actually pretty scary numbers.

I am not worried about it yet though. Last week the Titans won their game because of big plays, and I have a feeling that we came into this game with the mindset on defense that we had to prevent the big play. So stopping CJ from running the ball wasnt really at the top of our "to do list". I mean the guy was averaging 2 yards per carry before this week... not exactly their biggest threat.

So im hoping that the issue was simply that we were more interested in preventing them from chunking us, than running it. But it is definitely something that im gonna be keeping a close eye on from now on. Since week 1 ive felt that stopping the run was our defense's biggest weakness this year. If we go up against a team that can go toe-to-toe with us offensively.. and we find ourselves in a shootout...thats when im gonna be more interested in seeing what our defense can do to stop the run.


Im very wary of the next two weeks... Jets and Packers, and I dont want to jinx it by looking too far ahead.. BUT... I feel like our next BIG challenge is gonna be week 7 against the Ravens. That is a team that is capable on both sides of the ball just like us. And Ray Rice is definitely no slouch at RB. We could see ourselves in a situation where stopping the run is tantamount to staying in the game.

[dream_team]

I share the OP's concern. Even last season, if I had to pick a weakness of the Texans D, I would say they can be ran on up the middle. Now that Demeco is gone, they have gotten even worse. I even thinking Cushing is not playing as well as he did last season.

Our best defense against the run is actually our offense. Our offense has gotten into big leads so early, it has forced teams to abandon the run. In the Titans case, they didn't abandon it and ended up rushing over 100 yards.

I'm actually quite surprised we've been winning these games so easily. We haven't been running the ball all that well, and haven't been stopping the run all that well. Does that just show how good this team is? Not everything is clicking right now, but still dominating teams.

[Vinny]

DeMeco was very, very instinctive in the middle here for years and we were a little spoiled when it comes to middle linebacker play. Ryans would diagnose a play and get to the back much sooner than anyone we have in the middle now...I see it. Cushing isn't nearly as clean to the correct gap as Ryans was in his prime...he never will be either, but this isn't criticism of him as much as it is praise for Ryans. We played well without him last year too though -we rally to the ball really well. We overcome less instinctive MLB play with great team speed.

[ItsMyFault]

Rush defense definitely needs to improve. We have some premier rushers coming up on this schedule.

Ray Rice
Matt Forte
MJD
Ridley
AP

[Brandon420tx]

We were in 3 safety sets most of the game, not even talking 4th quarter. We protected the outside and didn't respect their ability to run up the gut at all, I just watch the game on NFL rewind and that's what I took out of it. Even though we were giving them the gaps inside of the DE's they were not taking them at all as often as they should have.

[Thorn]

I'm more worried about OUR run game than the other guys.

[TimeKiller]

Originally Posted by SteveSlaton20

not that worry about the run game, but i'd take demeco back for bradie james in a heart beat.

x2


I'd say the NT is the biggest issue stopping the run. Looked like Cody and Mitchell were getting flat out blown off the ball. Perhaps it is the mindset Wade prefers, to get upfield that allows some penetration from the offense? The numbers don't really match the feel of the game, save about 2 runs the Texans were never really getting hurt by Chris Johnson. The laughable attempt to appease fantasy football owners in the 4th was just embarrassing. They couldn't even run REAL running plays against a 2nd team defense.

[msbbc833]

Originally Posted by Thorn

I'm more worried about OUR run game than the other guys.

Agreed. It seems Foster keeps getting these 3.5 YPC games while every other team is getting 5.x YPC on us.

[wildroot]

Originally Posted by Thorn

I'm more worried about OUR run game than the other guys.

I didn't want to be the one to say it, but yeah, me too. Foster was averaging 4.9 YPC in 2010...now he's down to 3.7. I'm just not seeing those breakout runs anymore.

[TheIronDuke]

Saw the thread title and was like, my ex wife posts on TT?

Anyways, as has been said, CJ got a lot of yards in garbage time. I also think our 3rd down run defense is pretty good which to me is most important. Sure we might give up a couple of big runs but when it's time to stop the run, we do.

[EllisUnit]

I'm more worried about our run offense than our run defense TBH. We've won 3 of our 4 games by 20 or more points. And to me the running game has been below par IMO, with all stats aside.

[Texanmike02]

Honestly, its hard to worry about much when you have beaten 3 of 4 opponents by 20+ pts. Once we were up 2 scores I don't think we paid much attention to CJ. If they wanted to run the ball I was good with it. They didn't break off a 40 yard run, they didn't move the ball in chunks and they had quite a few TFL when they ran the ball. If they were running the ball for 4 or 5 yards EVERY time then I would be worried. They only converted on 4-12 (33%) of their third down attempts and two of those were on that last drive in the 4th. That would mean that prior to that drive they were 2 of 10 on 3rd down attempts. I don't care how much you rush for, if you are getting off the field on 3rd down like that then we are good.

I'm a little bit more worried about our running game but when teams are daring us to pass we are passing efficiently. Teams are going to try to take away the run or the pass, they can't take away both. The moment teams start devoting to stop the pass our running game will take off again.

Mike