Fans of the Houston Texans must be starting to feel like they're Bill Murray's character -- Phil Connors, a curmudgeonly and cynical weatherman who slowly slips into madness as he inexplicably wakes up to 'I Got You Babe' every single morning while on assigment in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania -- in the movie Groundhog Day, stuck in a never-ending loop where the same issues that plagued their teams offense in 2024 are being relived on a weekly basis throughout the 2025 season as well.
The difference is, Texans fans have been forced to watch an offense that showed so much promise during the 2023 season stumble over and over again in both 2024 and 2025, despite the fact that general manager Nick Caserio has put plenty of resources toward improving Houston's offense each season.
Understandably, it's caused most Texans fans to point the finger of blame at first-year/first-time offensive coordinator Nick Caley, whose underwhelming performance as a play-caller this year has prompted unexpected existential questions like, Was Bobby Slowik really that bad? For the record, the answer to that question is Yes, he was, but that doesn't excuse Caley's shortcomings either.
With that said, Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans isn't prepared to point the finger of blame at Caley, despite Houston's below-average offensive ranks across the board, many of which are actually lower than during the 2024 season. In fact, Ryans is putting all of the blame on himself, falling on his proverbial sword in order to protect his OC.
DeMeco Ryans reiterates that Texans have no plans for personnel changes
"It all starts with me," Ryans said on Tuesday, per DJ Bien-Aime of ESPN.com. "So, you guys want to point the finger at somebody, put it on me. That's my job, and ultimately, it's my job to get it fixed. So that's how it'll be, but we're rolling on what we have, and we got to just all do better. Got to coach you better. We got to play better. We got to execute better on game day. And look, as bad as it seems, I tell the guys at the end of the day, we're still one possession from getting that game."
It's not just Monday night's loss to Seattle that the Texans were one possession from getting. In each of their four losses, the Texans have lost by no more than eight points. But this highlights the fundamental issue with this team... even with a defense that is capable of slowing down or turning over some of the league's most effective offenses, Houston's offense can't quite get the job done.
But like a true leader -- and when a guy's nickname is Mufasa, you know he has some top-tier leadership qualities -- DeMeco Ryans insists that the Texans will move forward with the staff in place right now. Even if fans want Nick Caley's job, Ryans likely knows it's too early to give in.
"We're pressing forward with everybody that we have," Ryans declared. "We're collectively all in this together."