There was a moment early in the 4th quarter during the Houston Texans loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars where it looked like head coach DeMeco Ryans was having a similar reaction on the sideline as many Texans fans were likely having in front of their television.
As the Texans, who were trailing 10-3 at the time, were preparing for a 2nd and 5 play, the CBS cameras showed first-year offensive coordinator Nick Caley on the sideline. At this early point of the young season, any screen time for Caley isn't a good thing. The Texans offense has been a disaster through the opening weeks of the season, the story was the same on Sunday afternoon in Jacksonville, and whether it's fair or unfair, Nick Caley has become the face of this failure.
But anyway, after fans caught a glimpse of Caley relaying the play-call in to quarterback CJ Stroud, the camera quickly panned to DeMeco Ryans, who appeared to be berating Caley on the sideline. However, after the game Ryans was asked about this moment, and he made it clear that it was the official he was giving an earful to, not his offensive coordinator.
"I was talking to the official,” Ryans told reporters during a press conference on Monday afternoon, per Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 Houston. “No, I was not yelling at anybody on our sideline, any coaches, any players. I’m too cool for that.”
Ryans went on to explain what it was that had him so fired up in this moment that was caught on camera.
“I think during that snap, we got on the ball, we went tempo, and the refs held our offense from continuing to run their play,” Ryans continued. "The ref said that we were substituting, which we were not substituting. No one on our sideline got off the sideline or moved. So, they didn’t allow us to run our tempo offense. They held the huddle. That’s who I was talking to, the official. Making sure that we were able to run our offense the proper way.”
So, mystery solved, and in a weird way, this actually makes DeMeco Ryans even more relatable to the average fan, because who doesn't love yelling at referees? The only problem is, there's still the lingering issue of how ineffective Nick Caley and this offense have been in the first three weeks of the 2025 NFL season, and of course, Ryans was asked about this too.
DeMeco Ryans still believes in Nick Caley and Texans personnel
At this point in the season -- with the Texans sitting at 0-3 and having one of the worst offenses in the NFL -- you could understand why DeMeco Ryans or anyone in a Texans uniform would be frustrated, and even potentially lash out in response to a question about the team's early offensive struggles.
But Ryans, whose nickname since his playing days has been 'Mufasa,' after the wise and powerful King of the pride lands in the movie The Lion King, has predictably kept a reasonably cool head in the face of this adversity, unless, you know, an official is preventing the Texans from running their tempo offense.
"Of course, we want to play better offensively, right? We just got it; we’re all sticking together. We got to find a way to make sure we figure it out, and we will, because I know we have the right people." Ryans told reporters. “We got the right staff, we got the right players, we just got to figure it all out, and we got to show it. It's not me saying that; we just got to go show it, and that's when we'll see improvement again."
The problem is, an offense that was supposed to take a step forward under Nick Caley has taken a clear step backwards through the first three games of the 2025 season, and sure, it's a small sample size compared to the 17 game grind this season will end up being, but compared to the 2023 and 2024 seasons, this ship is clearly sailing in the wrong direction, and it won't be long until they can't see the shore.
Season | Points Per Game (League Rank) | Yards Per Play (League Rank) | 3rd Down Conversions %(League Rank) | Red Zone Touchdown % (League Rank) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
2023 | 22.2 (13th) | 5.4 (13th) | 37.9% (19th) | 54.7% (16th) |
2024 | 21.9 (19th) | 5.1 (22nd) | 37.7% (19th) | 49.1% (26th) |
2025, first 3 weeks | 12.7 (32nd) | 5.0 (23rd) | 24.2% (32nd) | 0.0% (32nd) |
There are problems aplenty that need to be fixed, and the Texans are running out of time to do so. The fact that they're 0-3 is practically a death sentence, as only six teams have made the Playoffs after starting the season with three consecutive losses.
However, if there's one silver lining, it's this: the last team to start 0-3 and make the Playoffs? The 2018 Houston Texans.