In an incredible act of stating the obvious, Lovie Smith told reporters after Sunday’s loss that he encouraged his defenders to “continue to play defensively” against the Cleveland Browns. It is unclear what the alternative to this strategy might have been, but his approach seemed to have worked, as the Texans’ defense did not surrender a single touchdown to Cleveland in Week 13.
“What I told the defense is to continue to play defensively,” Smith explained after the game. “[They] did a lot of good things. It wasn’t a perfect game, but we’re going to highlight the good things that we did defensively. Things we didn’t do well, you’re going to talk about those too, and we’re going to ask them to do it again, and that’s how it goes.
“Offense is not good enough. Special teams is not good enough. We need to raise our game. It really is kind of as simple as that. Understand what the record is, and we lost a game today, but those are some of the things. Each player has to just look at how they played, what side of the ball, all of that. That’s what we’re going to do.”
This incredible quote came on the heels of the team’s 10th loss of the season and is sure to stick with fans and players alike for its bizarre yet effective nature. Was Smith expecting that the defense might play offensively? What indications did he have that emphasizing to them that they needed to play defensively might be necessary?
Texans fans may never know. The only thing they can be certain of is that Smith’s re-iteration of this most basic principle of defensive football — to play defensively — seemed to resonate with the Texans’ players, and that is all that matters.
If this is what it takes to get a good performance out of his defense, then so be it.