Texans’ DeMeco Ryans on High Alert for Justin Herbert

Edging out Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Geno Smith on Sunday ended up becoming a slightly more difficult task than the Houston Texans had imagined at first.

wdiaSo, it fair to say that the more dynamic skill set of Los Angeles Chargersr superstar Justin Herbert presents a more monumental challenge for Texans' head coach DeMeco Ryans to deal with. Even with a broken left hand, Herbert has continued to excel as he keeps the Chargers right in the middle of an AFC West divisional and overall playoff seeding race.

Ryans' obvious displeasure at some defensive lapses, his unit somehow still survived against the Raiders, was probably done with the additional purpose of getting them focused on the added threat posed by Herbert.

After all, just like everyone else in the league, Ryans is full of admiration for how Herbert plays the game; so he's trying to get his guys geared up as soon as possible for the challenge at hand.

“Really talented quarterback. One of the toughest guys I’ve seen in the pocket," Ryans raved about Herbert, via Texans All-Access.

"I’ve shown clips of him throughout the season to our team, just of some of the decisions he made, how tough he is in the pocket. So, he’s an impressive young player who’s doing a really good job. They’re doing a good job of playing well around him.”

DeMeco Ryans Praises Justin Herbert's Decision-Making

For all the questions some critics have raised over Herbert's lack of playoff success to date, there's little doubt about the level of toughness he consistently exhibits.

Therefore, it stands to reason that Herbert will stand tall in the pocket in the face of the Texans' furious pass rush; however, it's his premier decision-making that leaps out at coach Ryans.

“Justin is making really good decisions with the football," Ryans said. "He has that athletic ability to escape the pocket. He doesn’t—when you hear about Justin Herbert, you don’t hear a lot of people talk about that."

"But man, his ability to escape the A and B gaps is very similar to [Patrick] Mahomes in that way. And also, they have the zone-read element that, when it’s crunch time, and he needs to make a play, he’ll pull the ball and make plays for you.”

Dec 21, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert (10) participates in pregame warmups against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Trying to confuse Herbert at the line of scrimmage might just fly out the window; so more solid tackling will need to come back to the forefront for Ryan’s defense, especially when the Chargers' superstar tucks and runs.

Omarion Hampton, Chargers' Run Game Presents Additional Challenge

Rival head coach Jim Harbaugh is bound to be paying particularly close attention to how impressively Raiders rookie running back Ashton Jeanty ran the ball last weekend, so it makes perfect sense that the Chargers unleashing his own first-year ball carrier, Omarion Hampton, might come straight around the corner.

Just like his fellow rookie Jeanty, the Chargers' new offensive weapon has the kind of well-rounded game that can cause Ryans' defense serious headaches.

“We got another challenge this week,” Ryans said of the Chargers' running back. “Hampton, another good physical young back who’s tough," Ryans said about Hampton. "He’s going to run the exact same way."

"So, we got to make sure that we’ll get our—we’ll see if we got it corrected. They’re gonna check us. They’re going to run the ball a lot. So, we’re gonna have our opportunities to show that we fixed our tackling, and we have to do it.”

Dec 21, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Los Angeles Chargers running back Omarion Hampton (8) rushes against the Dallas Cowboys during the second quarter at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

It could be easily argued that a more balanced air and ground attack can get the impressive Texans defense on the back foot, a little like how the Raiders caused the Texans issues at the weekend.

All told, the Texans' defense tackling a bit more soundly and getting after the ultra-dangerous Herbert holds the key to registering their critical 11th win of the year and continuing the longest win streak in the NFL to eight straight.

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