On Wednesday, Houston Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said he will take over defensive play-calling duties from defensive coordinator Matt Burke, a significant change amid his team's 0-4 start.
"It all starts with me," Ryans said. "If there's a lack in communication, I look at myself first, so it starts with me and making sure I'm a better communicator, so just to help spark things more, I'm gonna take over the play calling for the defense, and I'm gonna make sure the communication is right. If our guys are saying the communication is not right, then ... ultimately it falls on me. So it's on me to get it fixed.
"It's no slight against coach Burke. He's done an outstanding job. Just wanna make sure I can streamline communication in the best way possible, so that isn't the theme when I stand up here the next time I see you guys and talking about communication."
The change comes on the heels of Houston's 34-30 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in which Dallas racked up 399 yards of offense and scored touchdowns on four of its five second-half drives. CeeDee Lamb had 17 catches for 189 yards and a touchdown, and Dak Prescott threw for 335 yards. Dallas did not have a single turnover.
It was the second time in four weeks that the defense was not up to its usual excellent standard. The Bills beat the Texans 36-31 in Week 1. Houston still ranks highly in many categories, but one notable drop-off has been in the number of big plays it is giving up.
Texans' defensive ranks
2025
2026
Success rate
2nd
8th
Sack rate
8th
3rd
Net yards per attempt
4th
25th
Explosive play rate
14th
28th
The Texans' defense gives up some big plays by nature -- it is an extremely aggressive unit that will sometimes get beaten -- but the fall from 14th to 28th in explosive play rate is massive. Several big plays have also come in crucial moments, magnifying the problem even more.
- In Week 1, Josh Allen threw a game-winning 34-yard touchdown pass to Joshua Palmer with under a minute left.
- In Week 3, Daniel Jones found Laquon Treadwell for 20 yards with under two minutes left before the game-winning field goal.
- In Week 4, Prescott found George Pickens for 22 yards with under a minute left shortly before the game-winning touchdown.
The Texans have allowed 17 completions of 20+ yards. Only the Lions have allowed more. There is much more to "communication" than just defending big plays -- many of those completions were well-defended -- but that is one area in which Houston is lacking.
Last year, Ryans gave up play-calling duties to Burke in Week 4, ironically, after the Texans' defense had been struggling early. Ryans is now hoping the inverse decision from last year will provide a similar spark.
The Texans started 1-3 last season and made the playoffs. Only one team -- the 1992 Chargers -- started a season 0-4 and made the postseason. The Texans will hope their march to join them starts with a win in Week 5 at the Titans.
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