Things must change for Houston on defense
Kansas City collapse proves defense needs new direction
Jan 12, 2020, 5:34 pm
Things must change for Houston on defense
The Texans defense falls apart in loss to Chiefs
Travis Kelce is a grown man 💪 @tkelce pic.twitter.com/zqbCb9Zsgw
— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) January 12, 2020
The Texans allowed seven consecutive touchdown drives. Seven. No stops in there. The first Chiefs drive was an easy pitch and catch for the Chiefs that saw the Texans totally lose the Chiefs receivers. The next two, maybe a little tougher to criticize. Two short fields though were turned into touchdowns with little effort from Kansas City. There were no fourth down conversions. There were no miraculous highlight plays. Just offense. It worked. Really well. The Chiefs rarely saw third down after two early drops on the key down.
Absolutely unstoppable 😤 @tkelce pic.twitter.com/Of7PVwyaeS
— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) January 12, 2020
Lonnie Johnson was tasked with defending Travis Kelce. He did little of that. Kelce dropped a play early, but the Chiefs tight end dominated the Texans from that point on. 10 catches for 134 yards and three touchdowns was the day for the Chiefs best offensive weapon.
Yes, Tashaun Gipson and Jahleel Addae were missing but there is no excuse for ineptitude by the defense when defending Kanas City's tight end.
The Texans have all the same questions on defense at the end of their season that persisted before the start of the season.
There is no clear solution at cornerback. Lonnie Johnson has looked lost more often than not. Johnathan Joseph could be close to retirement and finally has had injuries creep up as a concern for him. Gareon Conley is assuredly on the team after the team used a third round pick on him in a trade. Vernon Hargreaves is due nearly $10 million next season and has yet to impress since showing up in Houston.
There is nearly no pass rush. Irregular contributions from Jacob Martin and Charles Omenihu were nice surprises but they stayed irregular. J.J. Watt had a lot of success, and he could be counted on to a degree, but he's another year older. Whitney Mercilus is here to stay with his new contract despite a down season of production.
The Chiefs are the first team in postseason history to finish with 50 or more points after not scoring in the first quarter, according to Elias.
— Sarah Barshop (@sarahbarshop) January 12, 2020
The above stat says it all.
It is time for Romeo Crennel to go. The game has now passed him by. There are too may young quarterbacks doing amazing things on offense for a defensive coordinator like him to continue coaching. There are rarely adjustments and any sort of quarterback mobility renders plans useless often.
Bill O'Brien can't stand pat after this type of performance. He has to find someone else to run his defense. They will have to get better with coaching, because there won't be a ton of options to improve their team with draft picks and money.
After the game, Bill O'Brien said he expected Crennel to return to the team.
It all comes down to this! The perfect defense versus the perfect offense, who wins? That's the game Texans QB CJ Stroud played with Cowboys pass-rusher Micah Parsons. Here's how it works. Stroud has his pick of the formation and the players he wants to execute his offense. In turn, the same rules apply for Parsons on the defensive side of the ball.
The goal is to put together the team that has the best chance to win in a 4th and 3 scenario. You can see which players were selected below.
Team Stroud (offense)
Stroud elected to attack Parsons' defense with 11 personnel (1 RB, 1 TE, 3 WR)
QB: CJ Stroud (HOU)
RB: Jahmyr Gibbs (DET)
X Receiver: Davante Adams (OAK)
Slot: Tank Dell (HOU)
Z Receiver: Ja’Marr Chase (CIN)
TE: Travis Kelce (KC)
LT: Laremy Tunsil (HOU)
LG: Kevin Zeitler (DET)
C: Creed Humphrey (KC)
RG: Quentin Nelson (IND)
RT: Lane Johnson (PHI)
It's hard to argue with Stroud's selections. You can see that he drafted two members of his current team in WR Tank Dell and LT Laremy Tunsil. One does have to wonder if Texans receivers Stefon Diggs and Nico Collins might take exception to Stroud picking Davante Adams and Ja'Marr Chase over them. He's not wrong for doing it, but I bet he hears about it from Diggs and Collins. Receivers can be a sensitive bunch.
Team Parsons (defense)
Parsons elected to roll with six defensive backs using Dime coverage.
DE: Micah Parsons (DAL)
DT: Aaron Donald (LAR-RETIRED)
DT: Chris Jones (KC)
DE: Myles Garrett (CLE)
LB: Fred Warner (SF)
Safety: Kyle Hamilton (BAL)
CB: Sauce Gardner (NYJ)
CB: Trevon Diggs (DAL)
Nickel: Patrick Surtain Jr (DEN)
Nickel: Jalen Ramsey (MIA)
Safety: Derwin James (LAC)
No doubt, this is a terrifying defense. The defensive linemen alone would have any offense in trouble. So, in this hypothetical, who wins?
This Micah Parsons and C.J. Stroud football debate 🤯
Perfect offense vs. perfect defense. Who wins? pic.twitter.com/7FuQqlkhqe
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 25, 2024
Be sure to watch the video above as Stroud and Parsons make their cases. Trust me, you'll be glad you did. You'll definitely be impressed with Stroud's knowledge of the game.