The Houston Texans have shown flashes of excellence over the past eight quarters of 2023. However, that is the problem for DeMeco Ryans: flashes.
With the Texans starting 0-2, the rookie coach knows that part of the issue is related to the team’s inability to sustain successful play throughout a full 60-minute contest.
Buy Texans Tickets“What I say to our guys after this is, ‘We can’t wait till the second half,'” Ryans said after the 31-20 Week 2 loss to the Indianapolis Colts at NRG Stadium. “Like I did see improvement from game one to game two from our offense, but our defense took a step back. And we can’t have the back and forth. We have to be consistent, and that’s the one thing. Be consistent and don’t have self-inflicted wounds that you’re too far behind and have to catch up.”
The Texans allowed the Colts to gain 353 yards total offense and allowed Indianapolis to convert 6-12 on third downs.
Houston fell down as far as 28-10 at halftime before scoring 10 second half points thanks to a C.J. Stroud touchdown pass — second on the afternoon — and a Ka’imi Fairbairn field goal.
“We can’t play catch-up ball,” said Ryans. “We have to be in it the entire game. So that’s what I say to those guys. I definitely appreciate what they did in the second half, to have that grit to fight back to give us an opportunity there, and we came up a little short. So always encouraged and pleased by that, but we’ve got to start faster.”
The Texans will have a chance to put together a more consistent effort when they take on the Jacksonville Jaguars Sept. 24 for Week 3 at TIAA Bank Field.
