HOUSTON – DeMeco Ryans’ strategy for a relatively meaningless football game Sunday doesn’t involve resting players for the playoffs necessarily.
Although the Texans coach left some wiggle room with his stance about a regular-season finale on the road against the Tennessee Titans, he was fairly equivocal that he plans to utilize all of his players healthy enough to play.
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For Ryans, in the wake of an embarrassing 31-2 debacle of a loss on Christmas to the Baltimore Ravens that exposed multiple issues with the AFC South champions, is looking for improved performance more than a rest and recovery kind of week heading into a home AFC wild-card playoff game.
“Going into this game, as I mentioned to all of our guys, everybody has to be ready to go,” Ryans said. “And that’s where we are. Everybody will be out there playing and we’ll see how the game goes. But, for us, right now, we’ve got to go play better. And our last outing on the field was not good enough, not representative of who we are. Defensively, offensively, it’s not a good representation of our team entirely. So, we’ve got to go out and we’ve got to play better football.”
That’s a logical and honest assessment of the team in all phases after only scoring two points against the Ravens as cornerback Kamari Lassiter tackled star running back Derrick Henry in the end zone for a safety.
Otherwise, it was a completely substandard performance for the Texans as they dropped to 1-5 overall against teams with winning records and their lone victory over a winning team came against the Buffalo Bills.
The Texans are locked into the fourth seed, so they can’t improve or lessen their playoff standing. They’ll host the fifth seed in the AFC during wild-card weekend either Jan. 11 or Jan. 12 with the game more than likely on a Saturday at 3:30 p.m. against either the Pittsburgh Steelers, Ravens or Los Angeles Chargers.
Against the Ravens, the defense was stomped on by Henry as he rushed for 147 yards and a touchdown while MVP candidate quarterback Lamar Jackson rushed for 87 yards and a touchdown and passed for another score.
Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud, in a recurring theme, was intercepted once for his 12th pick of the season. He was under heavy duress as usual with five sacks and 10 quarterback hits. Although Stroud said he’s banged up, which Ryans acknowledged, he practiced Monday and appears ready to go against the Titans.
How long Stroud and several key starters, including wide receiver Nico Collins, running back Joe Mixon, cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. and Pro Bowl defensive ends Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr., remain on the field in Nashville on Sunday remains to be seen. Perhaps if the game is in hand either way, they’ll be pulled off the field as a precautionary measure.
“The piece about C.J. being banged up, I think that’s real and that’s real for everyone in the league at this time of the year,” Ryans said. “Everybody is banged up. The amount of games guys have played, the snaps they play, everybody is banged up. It’s what it is. That’s NFL football this time of year. You try to manage it as best you can, but it’s also we all have to fight through, push through.
“A lot of guys are fighting through a lot of things, not only C.J., but a lot of guys are fighting through and that’s the nature of what we do. And that also shows how resilient these guys are of what they go through and what they battle through that a lot of people would never know that they’re fighting to go out there and still go perform and asked to perform at a high level.”
#Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud back at it. Stroud said after #Ravens game he's been 'banged up' @KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/RhEq9fEJ2V
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) December 30, 2024
One year after being named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and sharing a record with Tom Brady and Joe Montana as the only quarterbacks to lead the NFL in passing yards per game and touchdown-to-interception ratio, it’s been a rocky road for Stroud.
He has been sacked 52 times, second-most in the NFL behind Chicago Bears rookie Caleb Williams.
“I think C.J. has had some plays that he would like back,” Ryans said. “Again, that’s everyone. Everyone has had plays that we would all like back and like to play better. I think C.J. would be the first to tell you he has to play better. And our entire team rallying around him and playing better as well.
“I think, collectively as a team, we all have to play better. And when we have an outing like we did versus Baltimore, no one did good enough, coaches, players, no one did good enough. So, we all as I’ve asked for guys to look introspectively and see where we can all get better.”
How do the Texans improve collectively?
They’ve been saying the word ‘execution’ a lot lately. However, the issues at the offensive line in pass protection comes back to players losing one-on-one battles the majority of the time. Sometimes, they’ve failed to pick up stunts and blitz packages.
On defense, the Texans have set a franchise record with 47 sacks. Sometimes, though, as it did against the Ravens, the pass rush largely disappeared.
“To move forward, we have to go play better,” Ryans said. “And that’s what it comes down to, us playing better football. That’s all that matters. When we step across those white lines, are we executing? Are we playing really good football? That’s all that matters to me. That’s starting with coaches, players, we all have to do our jobs better and that’s what I’m looking forward to this week.
“When the ball was snapped, we weren’t good. We didn’t make plays. We didn’t execute properly. Our eyes weren’t in the right place. We didn’t fit things the right way. It was a poor outing by everyone.”
Heading into the playoffs, it’s a delicate balancing act.
The Texans have already lost wide receivers Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell to season-ending knee injuries and defensive backs Jalen Pitre and Jimmie Ward.
This game means nothing, really, and the Texans already lost once to the Titans in Houston.
The Texans are getting veteran linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair back from a three-game suspension and breaking in new wide receiver Diontae Johnson, who was claimed off waivers from the Ravens.
New #Texans wide receiver Diontae Johnson practices Monday for first time with team @KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/nu5G3B1XCL
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) December 30, 2024
“I want to see our guys go out and just gain that confidence just from doing ball the right way,” Ryans said. “And you gain confidence by that. You want to have that confidence. You want to be playing your best ball at this point of the year. So, that’s what I want our guys to feel.
“There is a balance there. For us, right now, I think it’s a feel for where your team is at this point of the season. And for me, right now, our team needs to be playing better before we head into the postseason. So, we’ll see where we are and how the game goes and, of course, be smart about what we’re doing and be intentional about everything we’re doing knowing what we have ahead of us. But I still want our guys to go out and play good football.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com.
