‘Tenacious energy,’ how Texans built stout run defense, primed for matchup against Colts runner Jonathan Taylor

HOUSTON – DeMeco Ryans’ arrival as the Texans’ head coach triggered different schemes, a hard-nosed mentality and, notably, a much stouter run defense.

The Texans are tied with the San Francisco 49ers for the third-ranked run defense in the NFL, allowing just 88.5 rushing yards per contest heading into Saturday night’s AFC South showdown against the Indianapolis Colts.

They have yet to allow a running back to hit the century mark this season. And their run defense has stonewalled Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry, limiting one of the most imposing, punishing runners in the league to 51 rushing yards total, including a nine-yard game, in sweeping the season series.

Since allowing 88 rushing yards apiece to the Colts’ Zack Moss and the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Travis Etienne in the second and third games of the season, respectively, no running back has gained 80 yards against the Texans’ defense.

“I just think it’s the tenacious energy our front has had,” linebacker Blake Cashman said. “You cut on the tape. We talk about that swarm mentality. We want to see 11 helmets at the football. When you turn on the tape, I feel like more and more each week you see a lot of helmets getting to the ball and guys finishing off ball carriers and making them feel what Houston Texans football is about, what our brand is.”

The Texans haven’t faced Colts running back Jonathan Taylor this season, though. He has an outstanding track record against them, going 4-0-1 in previous meetings. Taylor was involved in a contract dispute earlier this season and Moss replaced him in the lineup.

Taylor has trampled the Texans in the past, averaging 124.6 rushing yards with seven touchdowns.

“A lot of respect for Taylor, played against him in college when he was at Wisconsin,” Cashman said. “I think he’s a great back. At this point in the season, you kind of know what an offense is going to run and what they do best. We went back and took a look at how they attacked us. We put a lot of responsibility on our defensive line to reset the line of scrimmage, get knock-back and pick up where they left off last week.”

Taylor is the total package as a runner. He’s a big, strong, balanced runner who has run the 40-yard dash in 4.39 seconds.

“Jonathan, really dynamic player,” Ryans said. " You talk about a guy, the way he runs the ball, he just continues to stay after it. You can’t think that one guy is going to get him down. He’s going to continue to move forward, continue to run his feet. He’s a very tough runner, physical runner. Also has the speed, just a dynamic player in all phases.

“As a defense, guys have to be in position, you have to be ready to tackle him because he is a physical player and it’s knowing it’s not just going to take one guy to get Jonathan down because he’s such a strong runner. It’s going to take everybody.”

Taylor hasn’t rushed for 100 yards yet this season, but gained 96 yards and scored a touchdown against the Las Vegas Raiders last week. He has 553 rushing yards and six touchdowns while playing just nine games.

“He’s a very good running back, probably one of the most patient backs we’ve kind of played in a while where you think you have him bottled up, you think you’ve got him bottled up and he can still kind of squirt out,” Texans defensive coordinator Matt Burke said. “Taylor can really pick his holes and really find the gaps. They do a really good job schematically. I always hate addressing stuff that’s happened in the past year, but definitely a big challenge.

“I mean, he has everything – good vision, good patience, can hit the big ones – he’s obviously throughout his entire career, not just against this team, but in general, he’s had a lot of explosive runs. Probably our top challenge for the week, for sure.”

A year ago, the Texans’ run defense was shoddy. Under former head coach Lovie Smith, the Texans ranked last in the NFL in run defense and surrendered 170.2 yards per game.

Henry averaged 172.5 rushing yards in two games against the Texans last season, but was shut down this year.

“It’s mental and physical,” Ryans said. “It’s definitely a scheme change in what guys were asked to do here last year with us attacking more upfront, and it’s also mentally as we continue to do the same thing over and over again.”

Now, the Texans are ready for Taylor and the challenge he presents.

“We’ve just got to make those guys one-dimensional,” Perryman said. “We’ve got to be sound in our gaps and tackle.”

The Texans are allowing just 3.3 yards per carry and 1,416 rushing yards total with 18 touchdowns.

“That’s all we preach is stopping the run,” Texans rookie defensive end and Pro Bowl alternate Will Anderson Jr. said. “It’s literally in our room, like stop the run. Before we talk about anything else, we’re going to stop the run.”

And that is another reason why the Texans are in this position: one win away from 10 victories and clinching a playoff spot.

“It’s something we’ve believed in since the start of this journey together,” Cashman said. “The guys believe in each other. We have confidence in our game plan that we can go win this game. Once you get in the dance, anything is possible.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com