DeMeco Ryans Credit: Sean Thomas
Two things that seemingly run contrary to each other can be true. DeMeco Ryans is a good NFL head coach. The 2026 Houston Texans, whose head coach is (checks notes) DeMeco Ryans, are a ridiculously poorly coached football team. I believe both of those statements to be true. I don’t think bad head coaches take over a team that won 11 games the previous three years, and then win 10, 10, and 12 games over three seasons, and win a playoff game in each of those seasons. DeMeco Ryans is a good head coach.
However, the 2026 Houston Texans are one of the biggest disappointments in the league this season, and their defense, which was touted as “generational” in multiple publications, is THE biggest disappointment in the NFL, and one of the biggest letdowns in franchise history. The failure of the 2-5 Houston Texans in 2026 starts with coaching. Don’t take it from me, take it from Ryans, who says “it starts with me” after literally every loss (and then proceeds to blame the players for ten straight press conference answers).
If Ryans is indeed exercising some level of self-accountability, then he should have no problem with people like me bringing actual proof that coaching is the biggest problem with this team. So let’s do this — here are my five hallmarks of a poorly coached NFL team. How guilty is Ryans of each of these things?
5. Excessive penalties, especially pre-snap penalties.
The Texans have committed 58 penalties for over 500 yards, both of which put them among the worst quarter of teams in the NFL. In their last four games, they’ve committed 40 penalties. False starts, illegal formations, offsides, too many men on the field. These are controllable mistakes, and their Texans have committed 12 of those penalties this season. Ryans himself called the penalties “ridiculous” after the game on Sunday, and intimated that changes could be coming for penalty perpetrators. We’ll see.
4. Repeating the same mistakes every week.
The penalties fall into this category, as well, but just to avoid being repetitive, I think there are plenty fo weekly failures happening on the defensive side of the ball. The Texans are one of the worst tackling teams in the league, and that reared its ugly head in a big way in the second half of the loss to the Giants, as Cam Skattebo looked like a man among boys, running through the Texans defense. Also, add in coverage breakdowns on defense. There have been repeated communications issues on the back end of the defense, which is why top wide receivers routinely go for more than 100 yards every week. Yesterday it was Malik Nabers catching seven balls for 111 yards.
3. Poor situational football.
The mecca of situational football is third down efficiency. Again, don’t take it from me, take it from Ryans, who cited the Texans’ 3-for-12 afternoon of third down offense as THE main reason the team was so poor offensively. The Texans rank 25th in the league in third down efficiency on offense for the season. I think you can point to the beginning of overtime on Sunday as a “situation,” as well, when you have a chance to go get a touchdown and win a game. The Texans went three and out in the most meek way possible — run to nowhere on first down, near pick thrown by Stroud on second down, incomplete on third down. The Giants went 81 yards on their three plays in overtime for a touchdown. Game over.
2. Bad game management.
Questionable fourth-down decisions, poor clock management, wasting challenges, or failing to understand the score and time remaining — these things fall directly on the head coach. Ryans has been LESS BAD in this area — I hesitate to say he’s been good — over the last couple weeks. However, Ryans was a circus early in the season. The end of the Colts game, where Ryans waited until it was way too late to use his time outs, left the Texans with almost no time left to mount a drive for a go ahead field goal. Against the Bengals, Ryans was inconsistent with his short yardage decision making, as they ran a rushing play off tackle unsuccessfully on 4th and 1, and then from the same spot on the field, tried an unsuccessful 58 yard field goal attempt. Ryans, at a minimum, is just way too random with his decision making.
1. Playing below the talent level of the roster.
This is the ultimate indictment. When a team consistently loses to opponents with less talent, or repeatedly needs individual brilliance to overcome its own mistakes, coaching deserves scrutiny. C.J. Stroud, the most important player on the team, has played at a Pro Bowl level, and the team is 2-5. It’s not just that they’re losing, but it’s the teams they’re losing to. Last season, their five losses were to teams that finished with a combined .718 winning percentage (61-24). There is no shame in that. This season, the Texans five losses have come against teams with a combined .547 winning percentage, as of Monday. The Texans still have a ton of talent on paper, and it’s not translating. That’s coaching.
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