DeMeco Ryans Keeps Perspective on Texans’ Win vs. Raiders

When Houston Texans head coach forewarned of the gritty threat Pete Carroll's Las Vegas Raiders would present, he wasn't wrong.

Sure, Ryans' team squeezed out a 23-21 result on Sunday, a pivotal victory which keeps the ball rolling when it comes to playoff qualification, but the Raiders didn't go down easily.

“Everything is about winning," Ryans said post-game. "And you win, no matter how it looks, and you finish the right way, it doesn’t matter. You want to finish with the win. That's what we did today."

Certainly, the absence of star linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair negatively hit the nearly always stellar defensive unit that Ryans felt just made too many errors on this occasion.

Missed tackles were particularly problematic and it left Ryans sounding like he couldn't wait to review the game tape and get on with the process of ironing things out.

“Overall, the defensive performance, it’s too many explosive plays. That’s not what we’re about," Ryans said. "We got to clean up the communication. The tackling is not good. That’s not the defensive performance that we look for. And so, we have to play better.”

DeMeco Ryans Proud of Texans' Resilience

On the other hand, Ryans knows that seven-game winning streaks are an extremely rare thing to pull off against elite NFL competition. Balancing elements of knowing where they went wrong, but with a more general positive overview that the group still delivered their 10th win, still appeared to be something he reminded himself about just in the nick of time.

“I’m really proud of our team, right, for the adversity we faced at the beginning of the year," Ryans continued. "A lot of teams could have folded, but our guys didn’t. Our guys stayed the course. Our coaches stayed the course. We’ve adjusted some things, tweaked some things we need to tweak. That’s what you have to do.”

Dec 21, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Texans head coach Demeco Ryans stands on the sidelines during the fourth quarter against the Las Vegas Raiders at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-Imagn Images | Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

Getting back to the negatives, however, Ryans was impressed and frustrated in equal measure by how the Raiders did as they took the fight to the Texans under their own roof and even outgained his team on the ground.

"They got a lot of... tackles for losses, right? Knocked us back a few times, and we didn't run the ball well," Ryans noted. "On the flip side of that, they were able to run the ball effectively, and that was the difference in the game. We control the line of scrimmage better, and we can sustain drives a little better to be in better control of the game."

For as much as Ryans was left to stew over some details during their narrow victory, he can't get too down after registering another 10-win campaign, but he was also keen to not make it about himself in the least.

“For us to be at 10 wins now for the third season in a row, I’m thankful," Ryans admitted. "I’m grateful for – it’s not about me.”

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Facing Justin Herbert's Los Angeles Chargers next up will be an entirely different kind of slugfest, and it will be one that, if the Texans stumble to the same extent, then they will doubtless be dispatched.

Getting impressive rookie running back Woody Marks back in the starting lineup is bound to help out, especially for an offense that was found a little lacking when trusting in the consistent accuracy of quarterback C.J. Stroud.

It certainly wasn't pretty against Las Vegas, but Ryans will be taking a deep breath and putting the onus on the positive factors as the team pauses before a critical final stretch.

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