DeMeco Ryans’ 49ers defense takes care of Houston Texans

DeMeco Ryans coached against the Houston Texans in Week 17.

Once again, the Houston Texans offense failed to show up in the second, and this time it was former player DeMeco Ryans, the current defensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers, calling the defense that shut out his former team in the second half.

In three of four quarters played, the Houston Texans failed to score any points, and other than an 8-yard touchdown pass from Davis Mills to Brandin Cooks late in the second quarter, the Texans scored no more points for the remainder of the game. They lost the Week 17 game 23-7, falling to 4-12 overall this season.

Houston finished with 222 total yards of offense and compared to that of the 49ers which saw them collect 416 yards on offense. The defense of the 49ers forced the Texans into seven punts out of 12 drives, plus a turnover on downs, an interception, a missed field goal, and the final drive for Houston time ran out. Three of the punts were drives of three-and-out.

Mills finished 21-of-32 for 163 yards with one touchdown pass and one interception, averaging just 5.1 yards per completion. Mills was sacked three times for a loss of 27 yards by 49ers players Arik Armstead and Samson Ebukam who combined for a half sack, Jordan Willis, and Arden Key.

With Ryans calling plays against his former team, the Texans continued to be a poor team in the second half, going back to their old ways as they were unable to have success in a winnable game. In the first 11 games for the Texans this season, they were held to 21 points in the third quarter. In the ensuing weeks 13-17, they’ve added just three more points to their third-quarter total for the season.

Even with Ryans’ defense holding the Texans scoreless in the second half, for the game Houston was 5-of-15 on third down conversions and 0-for-1 on fourth down conversions. The defense of the 49ers was on the field for just over 30 minutes of action, and this performance by the DeMeco Ryans defense of San Francisco did a solid job of keeping Houston from having much momentum.

Houston Texans: DeMeco Ryans was a great player for the franchise

DeMeco Ryans played for the Houston Texans from 2006-11 and then played for the Philadelphia Eagles from 2012-15. While a member of the Texans, Ryans had 479 solo tackles and 8.5 sacks as a middle linebacker.

In his coaching career, Ryans has been a linebackers coach with the 49ers and now is in his first year as the defensive coordinator. Eventually Ryans will be a head coach with a team, but at least for this week, in Week 17 against the Texans, he showcased his defense for his former franchise to see what they are capable of achieving.

One plus for the Texans is they got a chance to see Ryans up close as a defensive coordinator, and maybe he piqued their interest if they decide to make a coaching change this offseason.