The Achilles heel for the Houston Texans defense last season was their run defense as they gave up 5.2 yards per carry.
Need to get halfway to the line to gain against Houston’s defense? Hand the ball off.
Through the first four weeks of the season, the Texans entered tied for the seventh-most yards per carry surrendered at 4.5.
Coach Bill Belichick knew the run game was a problem for Houston, which is why he had the New England Patriots continue to emphasize it. After the 25-22 win over the Texans, New England finished with a 4.2 yards per carry. as they ran 30 times for 126 yards and a touchdown.
Safety Justin Reid says the Texans have to stiffen up against the run and not let it be a liability.
“Just got to be more stout, as far as the run game,” Reid said. “I think the beginning of this season, we’ve been real excellent in the first two quarters. Third quarter, fourth quarter, it’s started to falter a little bit. I thought through the third quarter we did a great job, and through the fourth quarter we just needed to stop the bleeding on the run. Just give our offense another opportunity to get the ball back and make something happen.”
The Patriots were featuring four backups along the offensive line, which one would figure would give Houston the advantage to control the line of scrimmage. Instead, the Patriots were able to have their way.
Regardless of who is out there, coach David Culley says the Texans have to take command of the trenches.
“It really didn’t matter to us who it was,” said Culley. “We played the game as if it was the starters out there. It really didn’t matter. I thought our guys did a good job of doing what they did. They did a good enough job for us to win the game.”
The Texans will have to figure out how to get better against the run as they face the Indianapolis Colts next week at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Colts average 4.2 yards per carry, tied with the Minnesota Vikings for the 15th-best in the league.