DeMeco Ryans spent three years building a reputation as the best defensive head coach in football. On Wednesday, with his team 0-4, he took the play sheet out of his coordinator’s hands and gave it to himself.
Ryans told reporters he will call the Houston Texans’ defense going forward, replacing coordinator Matt Burke in the headset. “It all starts with me,” Ryans said. He was careful to add that the move was “no slight against coach Burke,” who he said “has done an outstanding job.”
That is the polite version. The real version is that Houston finished with the NFL’s No. 1 total defense last season and the No. 6 unit in 2024, and it now ranks 20th. Ryans is a defensive coach whose defense has become the reason his season may already be finished.
The Fourth Quarter Keeps Killing Them
Every loss has looked the same. Buffalo went 96 yards in seven plays inside the final three minutes to win the opener 36-31. Indianapolis moved 29 yards in six plays to set up a game-winning field goal in Week 3, moments after C.J. Stroud had handed Houston a late lead.
Then came Dallas. The Texans led 23-13 early in the third quarter and lost 34-30, giving up touchdowns on four of the Cowboys’ five second-half possessions without forcing a turnover. Dak Prescott found CeeDee Lamb for a 12-yard score to finish it.
The underlying numbers match what the tape shows. Houston has allowed 17 completions of 20 or more yards, second only to Detroit, and its net yards per pass attempt has fallen from fourth in the league last season to 25th. The sack rate is actually up, third in the NFL. The coverage behind the pressure has collapsed.
Burke Keeps the Title, Not the Headset
Burke had been calling plays since Week 4 of last season, when Ryans handed him the job and Houston went on to a 12-5 finish. Taking it back is the kind of move that rarely gets reversed. Coordinators who lose the play sheet in October tend to be looking for work in January.
Ryans deserves credit for not hiding behind the org chart. He could have let Burke absorb another month of blame and kept his own hands clean. Instead he put his own name on the next four games, which is the correct call when you are the most qualified defensive mind in the building.
The Math Is Brutal
Only one team in NFL history has reached the playoffs after an 0-4 start, the 1992 San Diego Chargers. Ryans is 32-23 in the regular season with three straight trips to the divisional round, a resume that should buy him a long runway. In practice it is already buying him hot-seat questions.
Sunday the Texans travel to Tennessee to play the other 0-4 team in the AFC South. Whoever loses that game is the worst team in football, and the losing head coach will spend next week answering questions he cannot win. Ryans at least made sure the answers will be about his own calls.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.