DeMeco Ryans Urges Texans Offense to Improve After Win vs. Chiefs

The Houston Texans were able to grind out a statement victory on the road over the Kansas City Chiefs in Arrowhead Stadium on SNF, 20-10, largely thanks to a dominating defense effort against the offensive unit that is Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid, leading to a challenging night for them all around.

On the other side of the ball, C.J. Stroud and Co. managed to put together enough traction to get over the hump with 20 total points on the day, but the performance still left some room for improvement when looking ahead.

The run game was a bit slow throughout the day, having logged under 3.0 yards per carry collectively. The offense had a whole dragged in the middle of the third quarter that almost left enough breathing room for the Chiefs to climb back, and for head coach DeMeco Ryans, makes for aspects that need to be cleaned up quickly in the final stretch of the season.

"Lot of things we need to improve offensively. We need to operate much faster" Ryans said after Houston's win in Kansas City, via Aaron Wilson of KPRC2. "It's not good enough for us."

"We have to operate more efficiently and more urgently on that side of the football. Lot of room for improvement there and we need to see that improvement very quickly."

DeMeco Ryans Wants Texans Offense to Improve Quickly

Nov 20, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA;Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans coaches against the Buffalo Bills in the second half at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-Imagn Images | Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

Even while the Texans have made consistent improvements throughout the year to get back into the playoff picture, that doesn't mean the growth stops for Houston now, especially offensively.

For this roster to play up to its potential, the offense has to be a potent complement to their league-best defense, and while their three takeaways and overall restricting presence on the other end helped limit Kansas City to 10 points this time around, it won't be the case every weekend.

That progression relies on Stroud continuing to get more comfortable and refined coming back into the lineup, for the Texans' rookies like Woody Marks and their wide receiver duo to keep capitalizing on their opportunities, and perhaps most importantly, hinges on this offensive line sustaining their constant improvement as they've seemingly shown through the season thus far.

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Time will tell if the Texans can leap up that progress of shaping up offensively, but there isn't much wiggle room left on the regular season calendar to keep trying out new things. Four weeks lie between now and the Wild Card round that Houston may or may not be a part of, and a large chunk of that fate might just rely on how far this offense can take them.

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