Romeo Crennel – Page 14 – Syndication Server

Texans’ Zach Cunningham is the inside linebacker that can do it all

Houston Texans defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel likes what he has seen from inside linebacker Zach Cunningham in his third NFL season.

Inside linebacker Zach Cunningham doesn’t just lead the Houston Texans with 128 tackles, but he is the top tackler in the AFC.

The third-year defender from Vanderbilt has grown since the Texans selected him in the second round of the 2017 NFL draft. With two games left in the regular season, defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel can properly evaluate that growth.

“He has really good ability, he has instincts, he has a knack for knowing when to go behind the block, when to go over top of the block and when to take on the block,” Crennel told reporters Wednesday. “He can do all of those very well and has been doing it very well, and that gets him to the football.”

With the way some 3-4 inside linebackers play, they are forced to take on a blocker and free up others to make plays, kind of like an extension of the interior line play. However, according to Crennel, Cunningham can do it all.

“Zach has the ability to do it all,” said Crennel. “Then, what that does is that causes the lineman who’s blocking him some indecision. ‘Is this guy going to go behind me, is he going to go over the top or is he going to hit me in the earhole?’

“You don’t know which one you’re going to get, but Zach has that instinct to make the right move.”

In addition to his 128 tackles, Cunningham has collected 2.0 sacks, seven tackles for loss, three quarterback hits, two fumble recoveries, and a pass breakup in his 14 starts.

On Tuesday evening, Cunningham was named a Pro Bowl alternate. Certainly Cunningham, along with the rest of the Texans, are hoping to use Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020 as a prep day for Super Bowl LIV in Miami Gardens, Fla., rather than play in the NFL’s all-star game.

What does Romeo Crennel tell the Texans’ Pro Bowl alternates?

The Houston Texans have Pro Bowl alternates on defense, and defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel has solid advice for all of them.

The Houston Texans have three Pro Bowl alternates in defensive tackle D.J. Reader, inside linebacker Zach Cunningham, and outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus.

Considered a “snub” as they weren’t named initial starters or reserves on the AFC’s all-star roster, defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel has seen his fair share of snubs in his 39 years of coaching at the pro level. His message resonates.

“Like I told Whitney, because Whitney I think is an alternate also, sometimes Whitney doesn’t feel like that people notice what he does, and I told him, I said, ‘People notice what you do. That’s why you got the award. That’s why you’re where you are,'” Crennel told reporters Wednesday.

In the case of Mercilus, he is tied for the second-most forced fumbles among AFC linebackers with four and is tied for the fourth-most interceptions among linebackers in the conference with two. He isn’t leading any particular statistical category like Cunningham is, who has the most tackles in the AFC with 128.

“He shows up every game,” Crennel said. “Many games he’s been a double-digit tackler the last couple of games anyway. That tells you that he’s around the ball, he’s fitting where he’s supposed to fit. That’s a good accomplishment for him and it’s well deserved.”

However, the third-year linebacker is an alternate. The nearest Pro Bowler is the Indianapolis Colts’ Darius Leonard with 104, the fifth-most in the AFC.

Another overlooked defender is Reader, who has produced career highs with 2.5 sacks, 49 tackles, six tackles for loss, and 12 quarterback hits.

“In our system, they don’t get many accolades,” Crennel explained. “They take a pounding and all that, but I think they realize their importance to the defense and the linebackers definitely realize the job that they do.”

The one accolade all of the Texans’ alternates seek is to play on Super Bowl Sunday. That would be worth getting overlooked for the Pro Bowl.

How can the Texans take advantage of Buccaneers QB Jameis Winston’s penchant for picks?

Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Jameis Winston leads the NFL in interceptions, and Houston Texans DC Romeo Crennel knows how to exploit that vulnerability.

Houston Texans defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel sees the whole package when looking at Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston.

The former 2015 first-round pick from Florida State has a penchant for a giveaway every game, as he leads the NFL with 24 interceptions. However, he did throw for 458 and 456 yards in his previous two outings.

“900 yards in two games is not bad,” Crennel told reporters Thursday. “Sometimes people can live with a pick or two if you can throw for 900 yards.”

Even if Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians and offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich can live with it, the fact is Winston’s play presents opportunities for defenses. With the Texans needing a win over Tampa Bay to clinch the AFC South, they will need to entice the Pro Bowler into throwing a few ill-advised passes.

“We look at it and see what we think the reason for the mishap is,” Crennel explained. “Sometimes, he and the receiver are not on the same page. He sees one thing, the receiver sees something else and then boom, the ball gets thrown and it gets intercepted. But generally, when he’s on the same page with the receiver, it’s a completion and so I don’t think that you can count on them not being on the same page.”

Winston could have to find a whole new book as top receivers Chris Godwin and Mike Evans were placed on injured reserve Wednesday. If Winston, who has thrown 10 interceptions over his last five games, is going to have the same issues with ball security, then the Texans defense will have to be on their game, especially given that they are tied for the fifth-fewest picks in the league with eight.

“You have to do your job, put yourself in position and then if it happens that you have the opportunity to make a play, you make a play,” said Crennel.

In their own words: 4 keys for the Texans to beat the Titans

The Houston Texans must beat the Tennessee Titans. Deshaun Watson, Bill O’Brien and Romeo Crennel explain the keys to do so on Sunday.

Though not on prime time or facing a daunting opponent such as the New England Patriots, the Houston Texans’ Week 15 matchup with the Tennessee Titans is the most important game of the season, for both teams.

With both sitting at 8-5, they are tied for the top of the AFC South, with Houston having a tiebreaker via divisional wins. The winner of the tilt in Nashville will hold momentary control of the division and the playoff spot that comes with it.

The Texans will need to accomplish many tasks to beat the Titans. However, here are four straight from the mouths of who matter most: the coaches and quarterback.

Deshaun Watson: Match the Titans’ Mike Vrabel-made juice

texans-deshaun-watson-great-opportunity-facing-titans — Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Texans know Mike Vrabel. The Tennessee Titans coach got his footing as an NFL coach in Houston as a linebackers coach then defensive coordinator.

Houston knows the mindset Vrabel will get his Titans in pregame: the juicy kind. When describing Tennessee’s defense, quarterback Deshaun Watson noted that they are going to come out with some energy. The Texans must match it.

“A group of guys that are very confident, playing with a lot of energy. They run to the ball, they create a lot of turnovers, score on defense, which is huge for them, and they’re going to be juiced up,” said Watson on Wednesday. “Vrabel is going to have those guys fired up and we’ve got to make sure we’re on the same level if not better. They’re going to come out with a lot of juice and we’ve got to come out the same way.”

The Texans have struggled out of the gate all season long. They cannot do so against a Titans defense that Watson expects to be coming out guns blazing. If not, they may find themselves in a hole.

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Defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel sees inconsistency with the Texans’ defense

Houston Texans defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel says the Texans’ defense is consistent before facing the Tennessee Titans in Week 15.

The Houston Texans defense has performed great feats and equally as bad ones. One week, they are limiting Patrick Mahomes or Tom Brady; the other, they watch Kyle Allen or Drew Lock slice them up in defeat.

They are, as defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel would put it, inconsistent. “I think there is some inconsistency,” said the veteran defensive coach on Thursday.

Where the Texans have been consistent on defense, however, is that under Crennel in 2019, they have shown resiliency. They can bounce back. According to Football Outsiders, via Rivers McCown, Crennel’s defense has a 3.9% DVOA, an uptick, as compared to the offense.

“What I’ve noticed during the year is that they’ve been able to bounce back. We’ve been able to bounce back and when we lose a game, we can come back and end up winning one, winning a big game,” said Crennel. “So, hopefully that will occur on Sunday, that we’re able to do that, but wishing that it will happen doesn’t make it happen.”

On Sunday, the Texans, as Crennel alluded to, will attempt to bounce back from a loss. They will do so against the 8-5 Tennessee Titans, with the winner taking the defining lead in the AFC South.

Limiting the Titans is no easy task. Once considered an old-school, ground-and-pound and defensive-minded team, Tennessee is scoring at will. They’ve scored 30-plus in their last four. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill leads the NFL in passer rating (118.5) while tailback Derrick Henry has run to the tune of 1,243 yards and 13 touchdowns.

How will the Texans’ defense limit an electric Titans-sized attack in Nashville?

“We have to go out and we have to perform, and we’ve got to do a good job at the line of scrimmage against the line, against the running back, and in the passing game, because they’re going to throw the ball because that keeps a defense off balance.” said Crennel.

“If they have to load up against the run, they know that, so then they throw the play-action and they’ve been hitting plays with the play-action,” Crennel said. “We’re going to have to do a great job overall, got to do a good job on third downs, try to get off the field and not stay on the field. So, all of those things come into play and so we’ve been working at it and we’ll find out if we did any good on Sunday.”

If the Texans did real well, they will have undisputed first place in the AFC South with two games left in the season.

DC Romeo Crennel: Texans’ rotation of cornerbacks helps evaluation

Recently, the Houston Texans have rotated through five different cornerbacks. Defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel says it helps their evaluations.

The Houston Texans have a problem. They can’t decide who they want to play at cornerback.

Since March, Houston has added three former first-round cornerbacks to the roster, in Bradley Roby (2015), Vernon Hargreaves (2016) and Gareon Conley (2017). They did so while retaining long-time starter Johnathan Joseph and drafted Lonnie Johnson in the second round.

When all are healthy, the Texans don’t know who to play. Last week, in a 38-24 loss to the Denver Broncos, Houston rotated through the five aforementioned, with Roby seeing the most snaps at 76% (45). That was the plan.

“We planned to rotate a little bit,” said defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel on Thursday. “We have more corners that can play now than we’ve ever had before since I’ve been here. So, we wanted to get everybody a little taste to see what they can do.”

As Crennel alludes to, the Texans feel as if they have an abundance of talent in their cornerback room. They have their best in franchise history in Joseph, a lockdown slot defender in Roby, a promising rookie in Johnson and two former highly-touted recruits in Conley and Hargreaves, who are each 24 years old.

Rotating will help evaluate who they want in the now and future.

“I think that helps our evaluation, that helps the competition in the room, and then we can stay a little bit fresher as well,” said Crennel.

According to Pro Football Reference, Roby leads the bunch in coverage, as he allows a 77.7 passer rating when targeted. Joseph is second with a 101.7. Conley is third with a 105.6. Johnson and Hargreaves round out the bunch with a 107.5 and 116.5, respectively.

With three weeks left in the season, expect the Texans to rotate through cornerbacks less as they figure out a combination that will suit their needs. Of course, they will have to get to the postseason first, which they can do by winning two out of the next three.

Why does the Texans defense have trouble defending play-action?

The Houston Texans have struggled against the play-action lately. The Tennessee Titans are very good at it. Romeo Crennel answers how to fix it.

In their Week 14 loss to the 5-8 Denver Broncos, the Houston Texans struggled mightily against the play-action. Per Pro Football Focus, via Aaron Reiss of The Athletic, Broncos rookie quarterback Drew Lock went 7 of 8 for 130 yards on play-action against Houston.

Why did they struggle against play-action? Defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel can credit it to the defense falling forward into the run only to see a pass-catcher whiz behind them, turning a minimal gain into a chunk play.

“Rush and coverage go together. It all goes together,” Crennel said Thursday. “Like I said, in the running game, if you get sucked up in the run, then there’s space between the linebackers and the DBs. If they can find that space particularly, and the ball is placed accurately in stride, then the guy is a catch and run situation. So, a five-yard pass can turn into a 15-yard gain very easily. So, some of that has been happening.”

One week after Lock diced up the Texans on play-action, Houston will have to face the NFL’s best in the same category: (8-5) Tennessee Titans’ Ryan Tannehill.

Tannehill is 6-1 as a starter in Nashville. He has thrown for 1,993 yards, 15 touchdowns, five interceptions and a league-high 118.5 passer rating on a 73.4% completion rate.

810 of his passing yards come on play-action, per Pro Football Reference. According to PlayerProfiler, Tannehill leads the NFL in play-action completion rate (75.8%).

As Crennel alluded, the defense can’t afford to suck-up to limit the run-game. The problem: the Titans are very good at doing that to other defenses, as they happen to have a 6-3, 247-pound star running back on their side in Derrick Henry.

Henry, who has rushed for 1,243 yards and 13 touchdowns on five yards per carry, forces defenses to stack the box. He is 12th highest in the NFL runs against a stacked box rate (23.2%), per PlayerProfiler — which the play-action game has benefited from.

On Sunday, Houston will have to find that perfect balance of attempting to limit the run-game while taking away options from Tannehill while doing so. Defenses have yet to crack that case; perhaps the Texans will buck the trend.

Texans working on angles, run fits to fix season-long tackling woes

The Houston Texans are working on their angles and run fits to fix their season-long tackling woes, according to defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel.

An already leaky Houston Texans defense certainly doesn’t aid from tackling.

The Texans sit ninth in the NFL in missed tackles with 98, according to Pro Football Reference. It should come as no surprise that they’ve allowed the NFL’s third-most yards after the catch (1,663).

Heading into a vital three-week stretch where the Texans need to win two games to clinch the playoffs, that’s not going to cut it. Teams will, and have, exploited that. How will they stop that from happening? Defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel has the answer.

“You work on trying to have great angles, good fits, put yourself in position to make a good tackle if you could tackle,” Crennel said on Thursday. “That’s what you have to do.”

According to Crennel, the Texans see positioning as their biggest crux as a tackling defense. Late into the season, it’s going to be tough to fix that.

“Then when it gets to the game, hopefully getting in position and putting yourself in great tackling position, then you can execute the rest of the tackle on gameday,” Crennel said. “Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”

Only two other teams with winning records rank within the top-10 of missed tackles, with the other teams being the Buffalo Bills (99) and the Tennesee Titans (97), who will face the Texans on Sunday.

Though their tackling woes have not yet held Houston from possessing a winning record. They sit at 8-5 through 13 games, in turn tying them on top of the AFC South. However, a struggling pass-rush and secondary coupled with a need to take better positioning when stopping ball-carriers could doom the Texans.

The Texans have three weeks. The hope is to learn how to take better angles and run fits must turn into reality. If not, whoever they face will see that as an ideal mismatch worth taking advantage of.

Romeo Crennel knows why the Texans defense is ineffective on third downs

Houston Texans defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel knows why his unit has failed to get off the field on third down.

If third down is the money down in the NFL, then the Houston Texans have been flat broke in 2019.

The Texans defense has the worst third down conversion rate in the NFL with opponents compiling a 48.5% success rate. Houston is the only team in the bottom-10 to have a winning record and a shot at the postseason.

Defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel knows precisely what is wrong with his unit’s ability to get off the field on third downs.

“We’re not making plays,” Crennel told reporters Thursday. “There have been several opportunities to make plays and get off the field and we haven’t been doing it. That’s one of the reasons.”

Now that Crennel knows why his unit has failed on third downs, with three games to go, there is little time to let the problem linger. If the Texans hope to make the playoffs, which starts with getting a win over the Tennessee Titans Sunday at noon CT at Nissan Stadium, then they will have to start making plays immediately.

“If you don’t make plays and get off the field — because we’ve been in position sometimes to make a play that will get us off the field, but we don’t make it,” Crennel said. “We’re a step short or a step slow, they catch and fall forward or run for the first.

“So, we have to try to emphasize being tighter, concentrating on the man when we’re in man coverage, do a good job in the zones when we’re in zone coverage.”

Houston faces an opponent in the Titans that is 19th in the NFL in converting third downs with a 36.8% success rate. However, when adjusting for all of quarterback Ryan Tannehill’s seven-game tenure under center, the Titans are tied with the Green Bay Packers for the eighth-highest third down conversion rate at 43.4%. The Texans will have to get Tennessee closer to their season average if they hope to come out of Nashville 9-5.

Why Texans DC Romeo Crennel’s defense so good against rookie quarterbacks?

Under defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel, the Houston Texans are 11-1 against rookie quarterbacks. What gives Crennel’s defenses the edge?

Since the arrival of defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel in 2014, the Houston Texans have had little issues with rookie quarterbacks.

Under Crennel, the Texans are 11-1 against rookie quarterbacks, with their lone loss coming against the New England Patriots in Week 3 of 2016 when Jacoby Brissett filled in for a suspended Tom Brady in a 27-0 shutout on Thursday night.

Why, under Crennel, are the Texans so good against rookie quarterbacks? The defensive coordinator doesn’t know, however, he does cite their lack of experience into his defense’s ability to force mistakes.

“I don’t know really what that means other than maybe they’re rookies and I’m more experienced,” said Crennel on Thursday. “But I do not play one down against a rookie quarterback. I’m never on the field. It’s my guys who have got to do the job. Rookies, they’re rookies, just like these rookies I’ve got on my team. They’re rookies and they make rookie mistakes until they get experience, until they learn.”

On Sunday, against the 4-8 Denver Broncos, the Texans will face another rookie shot-caller in Drew Lock. Last week, in a win over the Los Angeles Chargers, Lock received his first NFL playing time. Crennel isn’t sleeping on him, however.

“Well, he’s pretty accurate and a lot of times it depends on the weapons that they around them,” said Crennel on Lock. “If they got good weapons around them, then that makes them better. So, he’s got some weapons that he can use and he can go to. So, if we can take those weapons away, then it would be better for us.”

Lock performed well in his first NFL snaps, going 18 of 28 passing for 134 yards, two touchdowns, an interception and an 84.5 passer rating. While the Missouri product was testing the waters, the Texans were beating the NFL’s most experienced quarterback, Tom Brady.

Crennel will look to make his record against rookie quarterbacks 12-1 on Sunday when the Texans host the Broncos at 12 p.m. CT at NRG Stadium.