(SportsRadio 610) -- The conversation has not changed through nine games.
This is a bad defense the Texans are putting on the field every week.
An aging three-time Defensive Player of the Year is still their best player. After that, it's an inside linebacker who flies to the ball, but occasionally misses tackles when his technique is poor.
Then, past J.J. Watt and Zach Cunningham, it's unclear if anyone on this defense is worth playing.
The Texans entered Sunday's game against the Cleveland Browns with the NFL's worst run defense.
They showed why on the game-defining play -- a 59-yard run up the sideline by Browns running back Nick Chubb.
The Browns finished with 231 yards on the ground, compared to the Texans' 90 rushing yards, on a day when windy weather conditions made running the ball a necessity.
Even Watt and Cunningham had rough moments, whether it be with gap discipline or tackling.
No one could call out Watt by name, and he's far from being the root of the problem. But on Sunday, he was not part of the solution either.
"After that first series, Cleveland was able to run the ball a little bit on us and then we were able to make adjustments and get the guys to understand how we needed to play," Texans interim head coach Romeo Crennel said Monday morning during a virtual press conference. "So they started playing the way we needed them to play. So we stopped the run. Then, in that second half a little bit, I think guys started feeling like they needed to make a play.
"So I feel good about their exuberance on wanting to make a play, but sometimes when you try to make the play yourself, you get out of position, or you create seams in the defense. And so some of that was happening. We just have to get to the point where we are disciplined and focused all the time and understand that it's not a one-man show. It's the whole unit. It takes the whole unit, really, to stop the run."
The Texans coaching staff -- despite being led by a defensive-minded coach in Romeo Crennel, and the coordinator being former NFL defensive lineman Anthony Weaver -- has not found an answer to this problem.
They have but so many high-level defensive players, and it's not like they are in a position to bench them.
"If they're our top guys, then that's saying the guys below them are not at the level they are," Crennel said. "Basically, you're on a limited roster. So you play your top guys because they are your top guys. Now, you could send a message and say 'I'm going to take you out and put another guy in' and see if he can do it better. But generally, the top guy is the one who does it more consistently for you. So, you can take a chance and put another guy in and see how that works. But I don't know that's going to work any better than the top guy.
"One of the things about some top guys is they have ego and effort and they want to be the ones who make the play. Sometimes they do that and they make the play, get a tackle in the backfield, or cause a fumble, or something like that. And you cheer that when that happens. But sometimes, when they're out of position and create seams in the defense, then you have to pull them aside and say 'look, this is what we need to do. So now let's see if we can get this done so we can settle this thing down.' I think that happened after that first drive in Cleveland. But then, in the second half, with the game being as close as it was, I think some guys felt like they needed to make a play.
"Sometimes, making a play is totally getting out of your gap. Sometimes, making a play is trying to jump around the block and out-quick the guy and the guy is not as slow as you think he is. Then he gets on you, pushes you wide, and that creates a seam. We had all of that kind of going on."
