DeMeco Ryans has been around the NFL for nearly two decades as a player and a coach. He’s worn every hat — from being in charge of quality control to coordinating the defense — and has shined incandescently amongst his peers. At this stage, one thing is apparent about the 39-year-old Houston Texans’ leader: everything he touches, and I mean everything, turns to gold.
King Midas, eat your heart out.
The Houston Texans weren’t supposed to beat the Cleveland Browns on Saturday afternoon. Despite an AFC South division title and a home playoff game, the Browns were favored, the experienced team who was about to show Ryans’ young Texans the ropes in a tight postseason atmosphere. Even the NFL might have inadvertently endorsed the Texans’ low voltage by placing them in the sleepy afternoon timeslot. There were likely few souls outside of Houston’s city limits who believed in this team continuing its season.
By the time the game clock showed all zeroes, with a dominant 45-14 score in favor of the Texans, that narrative was dead. It’s all thanks to Ryans and his golden touch.
THE VIBES ARE HIGH 📈 pic.twitter.com/QLxljSZXMk
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) January 14, 2024
The Texans are in the Divisional Round for the first time in half a decade because they believed in Ryans. They gave the former elite San Francisco 49ers’ defensive play-caller a six-year contract from the jump because they saw his potential and the impact he could have on their players. They pushed all their chips in on one of the finest young coaches in the sport because they wholeheartedly trusted his process, his decision-making, and his uncanny ability to steer a ship through rough waters.
We’ve seen it all season long, but Saturday’s emphatic performance in a playoff setting was an exclamation point. The Texans’ faith in Ryans was not misplaced. At all.
Let’s set aside Ryans’ evident impact on game day for a second.
Even while he seems the perfect leader for a young “rebuilding” team, Ryans set the Texans’ success into motion the moment they selected CJ Stroud (274 yards, three touchdowns on Saturday) and Will Anderson (one sack) in last year’s NFL Draft. Oh, and lest we forget, he also hired Bobby Slowik — perhaps the premier head coaching candidate this cycle — to develop Houston’s quarterback. Gee, I wonder who was instrumental in helping Stroud enjoy the best rookie season for a quarterback in NFL history?
It’s not rocket science, folks.
Support your signal-caller properly from the outset, and they will shine.
DeMeco Ryans had some high praise for his rookie QB after Stroud superb playoff debut:
"Our whole team is leaning on him and he has the shoulders to carry the weight." pic.twitter.com/vkPM1euTQi
— Chancellor Johnson (@ChancellorTV) January 14, 2024
In one offseason, the Texans nailed their head coach and offensive coordinator hires. They had the faces of the franchise on offense and defense. Put another way, Houston landed a Coach of the Year frontrunner, who then brought in a blazing hot head coaching candidate to coordinate his offense, and they added the likely Offensive and Defensive Rookies of the Year in one giant swoop. There are grand slams and there are moon shots into the stratosphere.
Ryans’ personnel masterstrokes for the Texans would qualify under the latter distinction.
No matter who the Texans play next weekend, they will likely be underdogs again. That’s just the nature of the beast when you’re not a traditional powerhouse. But underestimating what one of the NFL’s youngest teams can achieve in the bright lights of January would be a grave mistake. It would overlook Ryans, who has pushed all the right buttons for nearly a year. Why would he make a misstep now?
It would also discount what Stroud, Anderson, and Co. are all capable of together. It’s worth wondering whether this might only be their floor, not their ceiling. These Texans seem certifiably special in every meaningful way.
Saturday afternoon’s humiliation of the Browns was a statement. Ryans’ Texans are here to stay. Even if they fall short of a Super Bowl victory this year — which suddenly seems much more feasible — this feels like it’s the beginning of a franchise on the ascent. This felt like the start of an extended run as an AFC powerhouse for a decade or more. This could have been the Texans’ breakthrough moment into consistent prominence.
Everything Ryans touches turns to gold. No wonder the Texans are cashing in.
