Houston Texans: Romeo Crennel’s D-Keys For The Steelers
I’m sure the Houston Texans have enjoyed the extended time off from playing two games within a four-game span last week.
Those past two games were ones that sung the praises of “shoulda, coulda, woulda’s” with various miscues happening preventing the team from becoming the victor.
These were tough losses to watch but things could be a lot worse for the Texans right now.
It’s now time for the team to get back to work to prepare for their next opponent — the Pittsburgh Steelers.
It will certainly be a battle of the two defenses and it may be the deciding factor.
The Texans will be facing the NFL’s 12th-ranked defense and 6th-ranked offense when facing the Steelers Monday. They’ve given up 337 yards per game so far which is still quite high for Dick LaBeau-coached defense.
On the other hand, the Texans have tumbled to 27th in total defense giving up about 397 yards per game.
Ouch!
Texans’ defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel was available to speak to the media yesterday and he provided some valuable information.
Here are three important points that he mentioned:
Tackle first, then go for the strip.
"“You just keep putting the emphasis on it and telling the guys that the first guy needs to tackle the ball carrier and then everybody else can come and try to strip,” he said. “A lot of times, the first guy tries to strip and then you miss the strip and you also miss the tackle and then they’re adding yard. You try to get them to understand that yards after the catch are yards that count against you, so let’s make the tackle. The first guy needs to wrap up to ensure that.”"
This is very important and it’s certainly a factor as to why the Texans are amongst the top in the league in terms of yards given up to teams. That’s certainly a ranking a defense doesn’t want to be top-dog at.
Keep Ben Roethlisberger in the pocket under pressure.
"“Ben has a lot of experience in the League,” Crennel said. “He’s a big, strong quarterback, strong arm, moves well in the pocket. He can avoid the rush, keep plays alive, throw the ball down the field and then when guys are able to get around them or get a piece of him, he doesn’t go down easily. He’s able to stay on his feet. He’s able to avoid sacks. The thing that you have to do is you have to try and contain him in the pocket, so that he doesn’t have that avenue to slide out and play for time. I think that if you can contain him in the pocket, that helps. Now, containing him in the pocket allows him to throw the ball down the field some, so there is a fine line there. You have to get an even rush all the way around. You have to have guys pushing in the middle, so that he’s not able to step up. Then you have to collapse the pocket from the outside so that he feels the pressure and maybe has to get rid of the ball before he wants to.”"
That’s certainly a technique but Big Ben has only 10 carries for 18 yards on the ground on the season so far, meaning that he hasn’t rushed all that much. This is largely part because the Steelers have a better running game than in past seasons with Le’Veon Bell and LeGarrette Blount but he can be dangerous just as much in the pocket and that’s why pressure must be applied. Their run offense is currently ranked 5th with 137 yards per game.
Slow Antonio Brown down.
"“In the fact that the quarterback relies on him; he’s [Brown] one of [Roethlisberger’s] go-to guys,” he said. “When he reads the coverage and he gets the coverage that he wants, then he’s throwing it to him. Usually when he throws it to him, it’s a 30-yard gain, so we have to be cognizant of that and try to do some things to slow him down.”"
Slow him down they must — Brown is ranked No.2 in the league in receiving yards, hauling in 41 balls for 629 yards and five touchdowns. He is considered a deep threat but I think the secondary will do their job to contain him. His longest catch has been 41 yards this season. They cannot let him go wild like they did with T.Y. Hilton last week.
And there you have it — let’s hope the defense can implement some of the important points that were brought up by Crennel.
We will see Monday.
The Texans take on the Steelers at Heinz Field Monday. The game will be televised on ESPN and broadcast on 610 SportsRadio AM/100.3 (KILT).
Go Texans!