DeMeco Ryans Explains How Texans Stifled Derrick Henry

In the midst of the Houston Texans' dominant 44-10 victory over the injury-hobbled Baltimore Ravens, their defense held down star running back Derrick Henry to a limited day on the ground.

Henry finished the day with 15 carries, 33 yards, and a goal line touchdown for his fourth-straight game of logging just 50 yards or less on the ground, and averaging his second-lowest yards-per-carry of the season with 2.2.

The Texans knew that keeping Henry in check would be a defining factor to get a win on the board. Head coach DeMeco Ryans even called it Houston's main goal defensively: stopping the run.

"For us defensively, that was our main goal; we knew we had to stop the run." DeMeco Ryans said after the Texans' Week 5 win. "We knew Derrick Henry would get more touches, he would try to get more opportunities."

Instead of letting Henry run wild like he did during the Texans' previous meeting last Christmas Day, where he had over 150 all-purpose yards and a touchdown, Houston flipped the script this time around. A key emphasis of that shift, in Ryan’s mind, came down to tackling.

"Our guys did a really nice job, starting up front with our defensive line," Ryans said. "Our tackles played really well, our ends set the edge, and we tackled really well."

"Just watching it from the sideline, I felt us tackle much better as a team. It was multiple guys at the ball every single time they ran the ball."

Sep 28, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry (22) runs the ball during the first half against the Kansas City Chiefs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

The historic win in Baltimore wound up being the Texans' best performance of the season for rushing yards allowed and yards per carry— continuing the trend of Houston's roster proving to be better every week on both ends of the ball.

A nightmarish start to the season for the Texans now has new life heading into the Week 6 bye, and an operation that Ryans wants to see keep improving moving forward.

"One thing I impore our team about is just, let's just get better. Like, each and every week, let's just get a little bit better each and every week, and our team will continue to get stronger."

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