The Houston Texans entered the season viewed as one of the NFL’s top contenders, provided C.J. Stroud could play up to his potential. A historically dominant defensive unit paved the way for them to reach the Divisional Round last year.

But so far this year, it has been a dreadful 2-5 start for them, even though their quarterback has more than held up his end of the bargain. Now, after arguably their worst loss of the year, a 27-21 overtime defeat at the hands of the New York Giants, the blame is falling directly on head coach DeMeco Ryans.

DeMeco Ryans Blamed for Texans’ Loss to J.J. McCarthy and the Giants

At 2-5, the playoffs feel like a faraway dream for the Texans. Their vaunted defense has failed to show up so far this season, as they sit at number 21 onPFN’s Defense Impact Metric.

But their Week 7 loss might have been the worst of the bunch. Allowing McCarthy, who ranked at number 34 on PFN’s Quarterback Impact Metric last season, to finish with 252 passing yards was maybe their worst outing of the year.

As a result, a lot of the blame fell directly on Ryans, whose specialty has always been the defense, where the Texans have also invested the most money and resources.

“This was one of the most pathetic losses of the DeMeco Ryans era,”Cody Stoots announced, and he was far from the only one to reach that conclusion.

“This is on DeMeco Ryans,”Clayton Anderson argued. “Out of everything that could’ve happened today, a 17 carry, 124-yard game by Cam Skattebo shouldn’t have happened. The Texans have now lost all 4 of their home games to start the season.”

But even with all those worries, he wasn’t willing to give up on the season completely yet, claiming, “While 2-5 isn’t insurmountable, this loss is a ‘fired someone’ type of loss. Completely unacceptable.”

John Crumpler believed the issues extended far beyond this game alone, arguing, “DeMeco Ryans just looks outcoached on defense this year? Every offense they’ve played seems to have consistent answers for getting players open.”

After Houston’s 0-4 start, Ryans took over the defensive play-calling duties in an effort to spark the struggling unit. While it looked like the plan was working, this loss has put the Texans’ problems at the forefront once again.

For one fan, the solution was rather straightforward as he wrote, “You have to fire DeMeco Ryans and Nick Caserio @HoustonTexans. You should have done it in the off-season. I can’t watch this team anymore.”

John McCain had a scathing indictment of their performance, harshly writing, “The Texans have played like they couldn’t care less about this game. DeMeco Ryans did not have his undisciplined, uninspired, unproductive team ready to play the Giants.”

Finally, Harrison Vapnek also argued, “Losing this game is a fireable offense for Demeco Ryans.”

It remains to be seen if the Texans actually make a dramatic change to their coaching staff after the season.

They are one of just two teams in the league to have won a playoff game in each of the last three seasons. That success has come under Ryans, which has earned him plenty of goodwill. But with the Texans’ struggles only intensifying as the 2026 season goes on, fans are beginning to question whether his approach is still working in Houston.