DeMeco Ryans is beginning to feel the heat in Houston as his team has underperformed this season. After seven weeks of National Football League action the Texans have only two wins and they were gained against two of the worst teams in football, the Baltimore Ravens without Lamar Jackson and the Tennessee Titans with Cam Ward. The Ravens and Titans have only combined for two wins this season.
Against non-cellar dwellers, Houston has lost all four contests including last night's defeat in Seattle where they became only the second team this year to lose a game while winning the turnover battle by three or more. They dropped this one with an agonizing inability to crack the endzone or pick up a first down on short yardage plays while only inches away from their goal.
Oh yeah, I was warned before the season started when I was touting the Texans as a surprise Super Bowl participant that they had a major weakness with the offensive line. That was on full display during last night’s loss in Seattle, which gave the home fans some reprieve after their baseball team fell short of earning their first World Series appearance.
Okay, the Texans offensive line can’t open holes or protect their quarterback, but they’re pretty good guys … aren’t they?
That can sometimes be a problem in an organization. There are occasions when ineffective head coaches or players are kept around longer and extend dismal seasons because they are “good guys.”
The Texans head coach is a good guy, but Ryans is more than that, he is also a damn good motivator and excellent X’s and O’s technician.
He was on the original staff Kyle Shanahan built in San Francisco when he and General Manager John Lynch took over a 49ers team that had won only two games in 2016. In that first year Ryans was the 49ers quality control coach, elevated to linebackers coach in 2018 and spent his final two seasons in San Francisco as defensive coordinator. He was an essential member of a coaching staff that took the 49ers from last place to the Super Bowl.
In 2023, he got his first head coach job in the NFL when hired by the lowly Houston Texans, who had won only three games in 2022. In his first season with the Texans Ryans combined with rookie quarterback sensation C.J. Stroud to lead the Texans to an AFC South Division title and a win in the postseason. He was back in the playoffs last year and again led Houston to a Wild Card victory.
Then came this season.
Not so good.
Their losses to the Los Angeles Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Jacksonville Jaguars to open the season were all close, decided by five, one and seven points respectively. Last night, I don't know whether to call the game close or not. Given how many chances the Texans had and misplayed it was more like they were overmatched by a Seahawks squad that kept their perch tied for first place with the 49ers and Rams in the competitive NFC West.
Now the Texans go home and with a record that is 3½ games back of the runaway Indianapolis Colts, the situation looks bleak. In the two years the Texans advanced to the playoffs with Ryans at the helm they had the advantage of playing in a division without a dominant team. Ten wins and seven losses was enough to win the AFC South the past two seasons.
It probably won’t be this year with the Colts sitting atop the group with a 6-1 mark and scoring more points than any team in the league.
The competition is stronger and the results for Houston are down. Bad combination. But is it rock bottom?
If it is then they are in a perfect spot this week to handle Ryan’s old team when Shanahan leads the 49ers into Texas to battle his old defensive coordinator. The 49ers, in contrast to the Texans, are not underperforming. In fact, their five wins this year has them in that three-way tie in the NFC West for the lead and they have the advantage of straight up wins over every team in their division.
The Niners are doing it despite a series of seemingly crippling injuries that have eliminated for the season their best two defensive players, Nick Bosa and Fred Warner. Injuries have also sidelined offensive stars like quarterback Brock Purdy, tightend George Kittle and a stable of talented wide receivers during the first half of this season.
So, how are the Niners doing it?
They have carried the ‘us against the world’ to overcome their injuries into nearly every game this year and it has paid off with victories. This week, however, the team that needs to overcome is not the Niners but their homestanding opponents.
It is overachieving against underachieving this week … and I think the underachievers are due.
Qoxhi Picks: Houston Texans (pk) over San Francisco 49ers