‘We go to the drawing board, and we fix it,’ Texans coach DeMeco Ryans intent on fixing penalty bug after lopsided loss

HOUSTON – The film never lies, displaying exactly what happened during a football game. What it reveals about the Texans’ most lopsided defeat during the DeMeco Ryans era is a team that needs to make a ton of corrections.

“You definitely have to be on your assignments, be where you are supposed to be and you can not hurt yourself,” Ryans said Monday afternoon after reviewing the game. “When you are going against a tough opponent, really good team, tough crowd, you have to not hurt yourself but find ways, continue to help yourself and everybody playing together.”

Chief among those issues that need addressing: eliminating the penalties that are halting the flow of the offense and preventing them from sustaining drives and scoring points.

The most glaring sequence was four consecutive penalties while trailing by two touchdowns in the second quarter of what ultimately became a 34-7 blowout loss at U.S. Bank Stadium. After three consecutive false starts, there was an illegal formation penalty on Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil that was declined during the Texans’ third consecutive drive that ended with a punt.

Three games into the season, the Texans have been flagged for 28 accepted penalties for 233 yards to rank third in the NFL behind the Baltimore Ravens’ 31 penalties and the Cleveland Browns’ 29 penalties, And Tunsil, after six penalties in the loss, leads the NFL with nine penalties, including six false starts and three illegal formation infractions, and has been flagged 10 total times with nine accepted.

Bottom line: It’s far too many mistakes, and it should be correctable.

The Texans also allowed quarterback C.J. Stroud to be sacked five times against the Vikings, including three sacks from former Houston third-round draft pick Jonathan Greenard. He was intercepted twice, including one tipped pass, breaking a streak of 266 consecutive throws without a pick that dated back to Nov. 19, 2023 when he was in the middle of an NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year season.

“We go to the drawing board, and we fix it,” Ryans said. “We have to line up right up, which I know we can do. We have to line up right and we have to protect as best we can up front. There is five guys just working together, or if it’s six guys, if it is six we all have to work well together, and we have to play relentless. We have to swarm up front, and we have to get the guys blocked.”

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Standing at his locker after the game, Tunsil, who was flagged for three false starts and two illegal formations with one declined, said there’s a disconnect in how the games are being officiated with a lot of inconsistency.

“They’re trying to make an example out of us,” Tunsil told KPRC 2. “The first two weeks, we lined up the same way with no problems and the refs told us we were we good. We get here and lined up the same way and now it’s a problem. When it becomes a problem, they try to make an example out of us.

“When they told me to move up, I moved up. I feel like they are making an example out of us because somebody told them to make an example out of us. Look at their offensive linemen, they were lined up in the backfield, too. They’ve got to call it the same both sides.”

Ryans, though, emphasized that the Texans simply have to follow the NFL rulebook and need to be accountable.

“No, with the penalties of lining we have to be better,” Ryans said. “We have to align right. It is clear with the rules of how we should line up so we have to line up correctly and that starts with us.”

Referee Shawn Hochuli and his crew made it a point of emphasis to call illegal formation penalties during the season-opening win for the Kansas City Chiefs over the Ravens. The Ravens were hit with three illegal formations on their opening drive, much to the chagrin of coach John Harbaugh.

Yes, there are analytics for all officiating crews that show their tendencies to call certain penalties with a greater frequency than others.

Like the rest of the NFL, the Texans have access to that information.

No, the Texans aren’t focused on the analytics.

It’s all about making corrections.

“The analytics with the referees really doesn’t matter to me,” Ryans said. “We teach playing the game the right way and that’s all that matters. When you step out on the field, you play the game the right way. However they call it, they call it. It really doesn’t matter. I don’t want players worry about how the refs call it. You have to go play your technique the right way and that is the only thing that matters.”

What about Tunsil?

“He knows where to align, and we just have to do a better job of getting it done,” Ryans said.

Right tackle Tytus Howard emphasized the inconsistency of the calls and the lack of clear communication with the officials. The Texans were not flagged for illegal formation the first two weeks. Now, they’re being penalized. During Sunday’s defeat, the Texans had four illegal formation penalties.

The Texans kept getting flagged for not lining up close enough to the line of scrimmage. According to the official NFL rule book, tackles have to have the crown of their helmet by the center’s midsection.

“The penalties are a killer,” Howard told KPRC 2. “Being honest, I feel like the refs got to work with us a little bit. It’s become a certain thing where the linemen that’s new for everyone. They’ve got to work with us on that. Communication. It’s too inconsistent. Sometimes, you’re up far enough. Sometimes, you’re not. We just go to, as a team, as tackles, we’ve got to hone in on it and line up where they want us to line up. It’s very fixable. I’m not discouraged. We got to fix the little things and we’ll be straight.”

And Stroud has now been sacked 11 times through three games, and the Texans have given up a dozen sacks overall as backup Davis Mills was sacked once against the Vikings when Stroud was taken out late in the fourth quarter with the outcome already decided.

The Texans have been vulnerable to stunts and twists and the occasional power rush, including Greenard on rookie tight end Cade Stover on Sunday.

The communication and everything with the stunts, it starts up front,” Ryans said. “It starts with the coaches, we have to make sure guys understand it and make the proper calls, so all the guys work together to see it the exact same way, all guys are communicating, not relying on person, but everybody communicating, working well together, again we know the issues. We have to get it fixed. We can’t allow the same things to continue to happen. Starting with coaches, players, we have to take ownership as well and we have to get it fixed.”

Ryans addressed having Stover and other tight ends assigned to the defensive end in single-blocking situations. That drew a holding penalty on the first play from scrimmage Sunday.

“When you have different protections that are called, you mix up the protection scheme,” Ryans said. “Sometimes you have tight ends, blocking the end. Sometimes, they’re chipping out, sometimes they’re single, one on one, but you mix it up as much as possible. Our tight ends ended up one on one in a few matches and they got us on a couple of the rushes. We have to be better and block it up and we have to get rid of the football.”

The Texans have invested heavily in the offensive line.

That includes a three-year, $75 million deal for Tunsil, Howard three years, $56 million, three years, $36 million for right guard Shaq Mason, four years, $15.953 million for former first-round draft pick Kenyon Green, the starting left guard, and a rookie deal for starting center and former second-round pick Juice Scruggs.

“For sure, our offensive line they will get it going,” Ryans said. “They will do exactly what we need them to do. They had some really good reps in the game. Everybody likes to talk about the negative reps, we had a lot of good protection in that game where we completed a lot of deep passes in the middle of the field.

“We had a lot of explosive plays that were made, and we had really good protection. I don’t let a few bad plays dictate who we are, I know who we are and I know how our guys will respond so I am excited about our o-line and what is in front of them.”

The Texans, playing without injured running backs Joe Mixon and Dameon Pierce, struggled as they rushed for just 38 yards on 14 carries as Cam Akers gained 21 yards on nine carries.

“Our rushing attack, it wasn’t good enough,” Ryans said. “t is going to start with everybody, collectively. Wide receivers, o-line, everybody working together it wasn’t good enough.”

And now it’s about turning the page as a team as the Texans prepare to host the Jacksonville Jaguars at NRG Stadium.

The Texans have an opportunity to improve to 3-1 and 2-0 in the AFC South division.

“The 24-hour rule is always in effect whether we win or lose,” Ryans said. “You flush it and you move on. That has no bearing on our next opponent, so we move on and accept the next challenge that’s in front of us.”

Accountability is at the forefront of the change the Texans hope to create.

“That is what it is about,” Ryans said. “It is a team-first mentality. That is what I want our team to be about, and it is always about the team. Every guy has to man up and be accountable for everything that happened in the game, and I always tell guys, it always starts with me. From the outing, we didn’t play well, so if you want to blame anybody, blame me. We will work as coaches to get it fixed.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com.