Why the Texan Pass rush and Secondary faltered with Video evidence.

This is what we discovered while reviewing the game. The poor pass rush and much of the secondary issues, I believe, was the result of scheme. The heart of the article includes video, so I'm just posting the link:

Texans Bull Blog

dalemurphy said:

This is what we discovered while reviewing the game. The poor pass rush and much of the secondary issues, I believe, was the result of scheme. The heart of the article includes video, so I'm just posting the link:

Texans Bull Blog

Click to expand...

Good video, and good analysis. You can see on the first clip, when they protected with 9, we rushed 4, leaving 7 to cover 2. KJ got away with a PI on that one as that play was called incomplete.

The second one, they kept eight to protect again... so anyone saying the Texans didn't get pressure on Romo just didn't watch the game. They wouldn't have gone max protect, if we weren't pressuring their QB. That time, the coverage was fairly good, McCain step for step with Bryant. It was just a perfectly thrown ball.

The third one, the first RW TD.... again they use 8 to block 4, Barber is ho-humming around the right side, and both LBs run to that side, incase it is a screen. Because of this, Wilson has to move up to cover the slot receiver from getting the middle.

I don't know what the call was, or the scheme on that play. Maybe everyone was doing what they were supposed to. maybe GK & FBush trust McCain going 1-on-1 with a guy twice his size. But you'd think keeping the safety over the top would have been the prudent thing to do. Dropping the MLB to the middle of the field.... but that didn't happen.

But it makes me wonder when a player (Bernard Pollard) says something like this:

on why are the Texans pass defense is horrible and how can it be fixed) “We can’t go out there and do the things that we want to do. We have to go and do what we’re being coached to do. I think that so many guys are making mistakes including myself. We’re making mistakes in the backend. It’s a team effort. It really is. It’s a defensive unit effort and we’re just not getting it done. I think going back to it this week we watched the film together and (head) Coach (Gary) Kubiak called the guys out. Like it or not, I think it’s going to light a fire under some guys butts. We got to get the job done.”

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thunderkyss said:

Good video, and good analysis. You can see on the first clip, when they protected with 9, we rushed 4, leaving 7 to cover 2. KJ got away with a PI on that one as that play was called incomplete.

The second one, they kept eight to protect again... so anyone saying the Texans didn't get pressure on Romo just didn't watch the game. They wouldn't have gone max protect, if we weren't pressuring their QB. That time, the coverage was fairly good, McCain step for step with Bryant. It was just a perfectly thrown ball.

The third one, the first RW TD.... again they use 8 to block 4, Barber is ho-humming around the right side, and both LBs run to that side, incase it is a screen. Because of this, Wilson has to move up to cover the slot receiver from getting the middle.

I don't know what the call was, or the scheme on that play. Maybe everyone was doing what they were supposed to. maybe GK & FBush trust McCain going 1-on-1 with a guy twice his size. But you'd think keeping the safety over the top would have been the prudent thing to do. Dropping the MLB to the middle of the field.... but that didn't happen.

But it makes me wonder when a player (Bernard Pollard) says something like this:

Click to expand...

It's hard to know exactly what is going on. What I do know, though, is that by halftime, the Cowboys were absolutely convinced that they could max protect at any time and still get one on one coverage on their WRs. That knowledge sure made playcalling and playmaking easy for them. And, I would think it is something that was recognized and addressed in the film study by the coaches this week.

dalemurphy said:

What I do know, though, is that by halftime, the Cowboys were absolutely convinced that they could max protect at any time and still get one on one coverage on their WRs.

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We were in a lot of cover 2, which isn't exactly one-on-one. In most of those clips, you can see Wilson hobbling into the play at the end.

I think the Cowboys noticed he was slow to get over, & it's just as good as one-on-one with a shorter receiver.

I really need to apologize to Wilson, like everyone else, I was jumping on him as a major factor for our poor defense. After watching the game 3 times now, I believe he was trying to play hurt. After so long, he just couldn't do it anymore.

He's really a fine player, or at least has been for us in the past.

thunderkyss said:

We were in a lot of cover 2, which isn't exactly one-on-one. In most of those clips, you can see Wilson hobbling into the play at the end.

I think the Cowboys noticed he was slow to get over, & it's just as good as one-on-one with a shorter receiver.

I really need to apologize to Wilson, like everyone else, I was jumping on him as a major factor for our poor defense. After watching the game 3 times now, I believe he was trying to play hurt. After so long, he just couldn't do it anymore.

He's really a fine player, or at least has been for us in the past.

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You are right about the Cover 2. However, if the Cowboys are only sending 2 WRs out on a pattern, those WRs should be bracketed much tighter than that. Basically, they were getting the same coverage protecting with 8 players as they were protecting with only 5... and, the Cowboys took advantage of that.

dalemurphy said:

You are right about the Cover 2. However, if the Cowboys are only sending 2 WRs out on a pattern, those WRs should be bracketed much tighter than that. Basically, they were getting the same coverage protecting with 8 players as they were protecting with only 5... and, the Cowboys took advantage of that.

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I agree. They kept poking us in our eye... kicking sand in our face.

They're just saying, "we're better than you, and you can't stop us."

They did it there with 2 WRs against 7 guys in coverage.

They did it on the goal line, pushing us back & denying the TD.

They did it on 4 & 2 and making it.

We didn't get owned, we got punked, & we layed down.

thunderkyss said:

I agree. They kept poking us in our eye... kicking sand in our face.

They're just saying, "we're better than you, and you can't stop us."

They did it there with 2 WRs against 7 guys in coverage.

They did it on the goal line, pushing us back & denying the TD.

They did it on 4 & 2 and making it.

We didn't get owned, we got punked, & we layed down.

AT HOME!

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fixed

Our offensive line on those two plays looks completely confused.

On the first one, the protection for the situation is absolutely terrible conceived if it is being run properly. Both Butler and Wade Smith, at LT and LG respectively, both slide inside to block the defensive tackle while a blitzing is allowed to run straight up field into the RB who is in the QBs face. They also have Dreesen blocking Demarcus Ware, one of the best pass rushers in the league, one on one.

On the second play, Wade Smith takes the largest step forward in order to engage the defense. He ends up in more of a man to man block in which he stick with the defensive lineman he initially engages, but by doing so also allows another blitzer to come right up the middle to get in the QBs face and he makes Rashad Butler useless by man blocking the lineman that was moving into Butler's zone.

Seems like Wade Smith isn't understanding his assignments on pass plays.

I think what people really miss about pass defense is how important lb's are in the grand sceme of things. I wrote about it last year in the 3 level defense and its pretty much the same thing.

If you look at the best pass defenses in the league, of course its starts with the front four getting pressure, but the lb and cb coverage also works on aa string with them. Right now, the texans best cover lb is cushing and thats why ithought it would have been good to get adelius thomas as a replacement. When a team has lb's that can cover, they squeeze windows in the middle of the field and into the flats for the qb's. Squeezing those windows or robbing routes make the qb go to another read which gives the dl more time to pressure and allows the db to funnel more. Now, those 2 scores by williams wouldnt have been prevented by great lb play because the db were beaten so quickly,but some of those flag routes and passes over the middle wouldnt have been successful. I think ryans is a good player, but his route combination recognition is terrible. Just go back to the sf game vs davis or the games against clark and any other te.

It was a bad game. I am waiting to see how the Oakland game turns out to see if I really need to start worrying or not. I am going with the super optimistic approach this year. We will turn this D around just like we did last year after week 3. We will have a solid game, push the raiders around, and be 3-1 after the first quarter of the season. Wahoo!

How I see the play right after the 2 min warning in the first half.

3-7-HOU 37 (2:00) (Shotgun) 8-M.Schaub sacked at HST 33 for -4 yards (94-D.Ware).
TE strong left, Foster lone back - also on the left.
JJ wide left.
Walter and AJ slot right (AJ outside).
Cowboys in nickel.
4-man front (RDT barely outside Butler + plus SAM Brooking #51 also on the LOS, just outside the RDT.
Ware played RDE outside Dressen.
MLB in strong side A gap (3.5 yd off LOS).

Texans chose to go to JJ.
Protection on this side comprise of Dressen on Ware and Foster on the blitzing SAM.
(As Butler turned inside to help Smith on the RDT, Foster took on the SAM)
The MLB came up right away, ready for a delayed blitz (still checking to make sure neither Dreessen nor Foster would release.)
So basically, they had 6 rushers on 7 blockers.

The RCB that covered JJ had safety help and our protection on this side can't be relied on for long.

On the other side, we had AJ and Walter (one of them would be in one-on-one).
And we have more blockers on this side as well.

Schaub glanced right very quickly, went back to the left and didn't go back to his right.
The way Walter and AJ run their routes, AJ would get open for at least a 5-yd gain.
(Walter started right toward the LCB. This gave room underneath for AJ to settle in near the side line.)
The FS was playing to protect the post route.

Also, here, I think a call for JJ to run a slant-in would make more sense.
The SS was playing deep. The MLB played up.
With JJ sneaking into the middle of the field behind the MLB, Schaub would have a narrower span of the field to scan.
In this case, he can hit JJ in the middle.
If the MLB dropped back, he can quickly turn to the right side line for AJ (and throw the ball out of bound if necessary).

Asking Dreessen and Foster to block Ware and a blitzing LB on play side for 2 secs may be a bit much.

The second play that DM mentioned was in the third quarter.

1-10-DAL 37 (11:16) 8-M.Schaub pass incomplete short right to 23-A.Foster

Texans in a 3-TE set with Walter as the lone receiver, Foster in the backfield.
(AJ out with his injury.)
Cowboys in a 3-4

Texans put Dreessen and Casey on the left to block Ware.
Walter went in motion from left to right; Newmann followed him.
Now we have Walter and OD on the right with a CB, a safety, and perhaps one of the LB dropping back to help. (One of them would be in single coverage.)

We faked a draw play to Foster, hoping to freeze both the LOLB and the LILB.

The LILB came up to check on Foster.
As soon as Schaub pulled the ball back, he shot directly through the back side A gap to chase Schaub out of the pocket.

The LOLB also played it very well.
As soon as he saw Schaub pulled the ball back, he dropped into coverage
(excellent depth in relative with Schaub's position in his scramble out of the pocket.)
He took away the deep target O.D. and still had Foster in his zone.
As pressure was getting close to Schaub, he came right up to Foster.
Schaub knew this, so he had to throw the ball to the inside as not to risk an INT.

I think we expected both of them to stay with Foster long enough for Schaub to connect with OD on the side line (over the head of the LOLB).
Walter took away both the LCB and the safety.

The only way we could gain a few yards on this play was for Schaub to recognize that the LILB would not give him enough time to wait for OD and therefore, he needed to dump the ball to Foster as soon as possible (perhaps he can pump fake the LOLB on the run to keep him back a little.)

Again, we had more protection on the back side.
We had the two TEs (Dreessen and Casey on the ROLB Ware)
Wouldn't it be better to have Butler stepping up in a double-team on the RDE so that Smith can slide inside if need be?
Either one of them can still take care of the RILB if he decide to come in a pass rush.
It makes no sense that Butler had to look to his left to see if he should help out the two TEs in their double-team.

thunderkyss said:

Good video, and good analysis. You can see on the first clip, when they protected with 9, we rushed 4, leaving 7 to cover 2. KJ got away with a PI on that one as that play was called incomplete.

The second one, they kept eight to protect again... so anyone saying the Texans didn't get pressure on Romo just didn't watch the game. They wouldn't have gone max protect, if we weren't pressuring their QB. That time, the coverage was fairly good, McCain step for step with Bryant. It was just a perfectly thrown ball.

The third one, the first RW TD.... again they use 8 to block 4, Barber is ho-humming around the right side, and both LBs run to that side, incase it is a screen. Because of this, Wilson has to move up to cover the slot receiver from getting the middle.

I don't know what the call was, or the scheme on that play. Maybe everyone was doing what they were supposed to. maybe GK & FBush trust McCain going 1-on-1 with a guy twice his size. But you'd think keeping the safety over the top would have been the prudent thing to do. Dropping the MLB to the middle of the field.... but that didn't happen.

But it makes me wonder when a player (Bernard Pollard) says something like this:

Click to expand...

I don't like the D-call in the first play.
Don't know if I have time to get to all 3 of them.

thunderkyss said:

I really need to apologize to Wilson, like everyone else, I was jumping on him as a major factor for our poor defense. After watching the game 3 times now, I believe he was trying to play hurt. After so long, he just couldn't do it anymore.

He's really a fine player, or at least has been for us in the past.

Click to expand...

Sure, he WAS a fine addition but I don't ever buy the "just hurt enough to play" "Tracy McGrady" routine. If you're hurt, sit.

The defense was out on the feild the whole game. Matt Schaub and our offense sucked just as bad as the defense. To be held from 1st down on the one yard line in the NFL IS BS. Scheme is all on the coach and Gary is calling out guys to cover his arse. You Are An Offensive and QB wizard Gary, Why can you not get the ball in the Endzone. Step it up Coach or Mr. McNair will find someone who can.

TimeKiller said:

Sure, he WAS a fine addition but I don't ever buy the "just hurt enough to play" "Tracy McGrady" routine. If you're hurt, sit.

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I do agree with this. Him being on the field, and hurting our defense is on the coaches, if you ask me.

Going back to what Antonio Smith had to say, when the Texans were
struggling just as much with the run game, "gap integrity is very
important with this defense." Frank Bush has a scheme he wants
these players to execute, and when things are getting good, they
start "freelancing." This causes a cascading effect of suckitude, and
it leads to big plays.

Listening to Pollard's show, he was very explicit about this team
"getting back to the basics" to correct its issues.