DeMeco Ryans Reveals Reasons for Texans Run Defense Struggles vs. Colts

The Houston Texans had their worst performance of the season at stopping the run against Jonathan Taylor and the Colts.

HOUSTON — The Houston Texans finished the 2023 regular season as one of the best-run defensive teams in the league. For the first time since 2018, the Texans gave up less than 100 rushing yards a game, allowing 96.6 on the ground.

The run defense was a strong suit to their success. But Saturday night, despite taking a 23-19 victory against the Indianapolis Colts, the Texans' run defense was uncharacteristic.

Coach DeMeco Ryans credited Houston's subpar defense to bad tackling against the Colts. And despite the performance, he isn't concerned entering Saturday's playoff game against the Cleveland Browns.

"With our linebackers and second-level defenders, being in a better position to tackle and swarming," Ryans said. "We just have to be better of swarming the football, but it starts with tackling. It wasn’t good enough and we have to improve it this week.”

Texans linebacker Blake Cashman grimaces as he helps to tackle Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor (28) during the second half at Lucas Oil Stadium / Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports

Before closing the regular season against the Colts, a Week 3 victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars marked the best game a running back had against Houston's run defense. 

It came from Travis Etienne, who rushed for 88 yards on 19 carries. Not even All-Pro running back Derrick Henry could sustain his dominance against the Texans, who rushed for 51 yards on 28 attempts in two games.

However, once the Texans took the field against Jonathan Taylor, Houston diverted to the team that allowed an average of 170.2 yards the year prior. Taylor recorded the second-most rushing yards in his career with 188 on 30 attempts.

Ryans said there were too many times Taylor created explosive plays by making a guy miss. According to Pro Football Focus, Taylor forced eight missed tackles, which led to eight plays of rushing for 10 or more yards. 

"That’s why I think the Colts stayed after it," Ryans said. "We had a lot of leaky yardages in the run game. We have to fix that going against the Browns this week. They’re a really good offensive line, really good run unit, so we have to be prepared to stop the run.”

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The Browns do not have a running back of Taylor's caliber, but the Texans must improve their tackling due to their aspirations of advancing to the Divisional Round. Cleveland rushed for an average of 118.6 yards during the regular season. Jerome Ford led the team with 813 yards on 204 carries and five touchdowns.