Which DeMeco Decision Flipped the Texans’ Season Around?

KILT-AM / SportsRadio 610

ITL digs into whether there’s one move or decision from DeMeco Ryans that truly flipped the Texans’ season and sparked this turnaround.

Transcript

00:00Is there any move in particular or decision that D'Amico made that was the biggest difference

00:05in getting that team from 0-3 and really problematic to this place where they're definitely going

00:10to make or it feels very prominent, probable that they make the playoffs and that they

00:14have an opportunity to do something special?

00:15There absolutely was, and I think it might be more than one.

00:18In fact, I'm pretty sure it is more than one.

00:21But, you know, we were just talking about it.

00:22People are stopping you at the grocery store.

00:24People are texting you.

00:26People are saying, hey, how about the hallways here in our building?

00:30You know, you can't go to the bathroom without somebody saying, hey, so blah, blah, blah

00:33on the Texans, you know.

00:35We're here.

00:36You know, we're here where this is the team that is capturing the fancies of the city of

00:40Houston collectively.

00:42And so it's not just like, hey, what a great defense.

00:46How did they go from there to here?

00:47What were the decisions that were made when you were at rock bottom that ultimately led

00:54you to where you are now?

00:55And I keep pointing back to one that I think changed the entire dynamic, you know, paradigm

01:02shifting if you want to go there or whatever.

01:04But I think there's more, and I'm curious what you guys think.

01:06I keep going back to C.J.

01:08Gardner-Johnson.

01:09To me, that one decision.

01:12Really?

01:12Yes.

01:13That one feels like that's not even on the podium of the decisions.

01:15It is number one, and let me explain why.

01:18They brought him in and were like, and I was guilty as anybody, boy, this guy's going to

01:22change everything.

01:23I don't know why you would feel any different.

01:24Yeah, this guy's going to change everything.

01:26And then there came a moment when the Texans decided he's a little bit too rogue.

01:31He's not doing, you know, just do your job thing.

01:35You know, do your assignment.

01:36He's not doing one play at a time.

01:38He wants his.

01:39And I think the message that was sent when they said so long to C.J.

01:44Gardner-Johnson really just galvanized what they are as a defense.

01:50Because, like, even that dude got cut.

01:53Or, you know, even that dude went away.

01:55And if you're not doing, you know, exactly what Coach D'Amico Ryan says, and Togi, I

01:59talked about this a little bit yesterday on the player's show.

02:02But, you know, I think that one moment, sort of not just on the defensive side, but especially

02:07on the defensive side, told the team, we don't care who you are.

02:11We just want you to do this.

02:12And we want you to do this right.

02:13And we want you to play your role.

02:15And we want you to fit in the scheme, whether that scheme is offensively or defensively.

02:20I think that one move changed everything.

02:22But there are others.

02:23And I'm curious what you're thinking.

02:24Yeah, I think that I hear you in the idea of, like, a tone-setting move.

02:29Maybe I'm being romantic about this.

02:31But it feels like, especially with so much of this defense being holed over from last

02:35year's fantastic defense, it felt like they already, a majority of that defense already

02:40had that culture established.

02:41But it was getting smoked.

02:41Yes, it was getting smoked, but I think that was in large part because you had that one

02:46guy who was not.

02:46That's why I'm thinking that's the move that said, okay.

02:49And so I felt like that was a move that was important, sure.

02:52But I don't know that I was like, oh, this was the big swing of things for this team.

02:56Because I think that, like, everybody else was holding up to that.

02:59And they were compensating for a C.J.

03:01Garner-Johnson that just was not happy in his role and not playing it to the satisfaction

03:04of this place.

03:06We've seen C.J.

03:06Garner-Johnson, funny enough, go somewhere else, get cut, but then find his place, find his level

03:10in a role that fit him.

03:12And they've been able to continue to be good, in fact, great as a defense with, with all

03:18due respect, replacement level players in that spot.

03:21So as much as I think that making that decision was obviously a good one, clearly, it'd be,

03:25I'd be insane to be sitting in front of you right now trying to tell you that, yeah, no,

03:29that didn't make a difference.

03:30No, it made a difference.

03:31But I think that there's much bigger shifts that happen with this team.

03:34But I get where you're coming from.

03:35Like, this is what allowed their defense to, you know, end the porthole that was there

03:40and make them the Death Star again.

03:42Like, this is what allowed them to do that.

03:43So I feel you on that.

03:44However, I feel like there's probably bigger ones.

03:47And one of the ones that comes to mind for me is the decision to hand over play calling

03:52duties to Matt Burke.

03:53That's a good one.

03:54I think that that one mattered because I think when we talk about stabilizing, as we've,

03:58as I, at least I kind of painted the picture of this team where you go early on, you had

04:03some, you know, instability.

04:04Now you've kind of found a little bit more stability.

04:07D'Amico Ryans, we've always called it his defense in a way that has made us uncomfortable

04:11when we're talking about it.

04:12Cause like, Hey, the defense coordinator is Matt Burke and he does things over there.

04:15But I thought one, you've seen some of the places where I think Matt Burke has brought

04:19some additional things, even though he's always been involved in the situation of building

04:23the defense game planning, things of that nature.

04:25And I think that we're seeing as much as I still think there's room to grow for D'Amico.

04:29We're seeing growth in him as a head coach.

04:32I was very encouraged in the last couple of weeks.

04:34And it sounds weird cause it's more of a negative thing that he was talking about, but his willingness

04:39to look at some of the offensive things and go, no, this needs to be better.

04:42This needs to be better and not necessarily shield those guys from it.

04:46Even though I know that he's not like attacking anybody on the offense, D'Amico Ryans talk

04:50about last year where it was almost like, it felt like he was turning a blind eye to what

04:55was happening on the offense.

04:55Even early on in the season, it's the, we're all, we all are working together and we're

04:59all in one, almost feeling like he was shielding the offense.

05:01And I feel like he's, he's become more head coachly in a way, being able to step back and

05:07have more of a holistic view of this team.

05:09And I think that that matters to a great deal with this team.

05:12No, I think that is very big, but the reason I go back to the CJ Gardner Johnson is not just

05:16the message that it was sent, but the fact that they did it, there are, there are coaches

05:20and general managers in this league right now that would have said, well, we made this

05:25deal.

05:26Let's, let's try to make it work.

05:28You know, they, they would still be trying to make CJ Gardner work into the system.

05:32Sure.

05:32They said, nope, you know, you know, we're, we're, we're, we're cutting bait.

05:36That's a tough, big decision for a general, which goes on his mark.

05:40It goes on his record and goes on the head coach's record.

05:43If you make that move to, to, to make the cut and I just think it was so big.

05:47There are also some smaller ones that I feel deserve to be mentioned because I think they're

05:52very, very big.

05:53Remember when Christian Harris was the it guy two seasons ago.

05:58Yeah.

05:58And then Henry told, because of his injury and whatever else was going on, uh, Henry

06:03Totoa comes in and, and plays really well.

06:05Then we go into this season and Christian Harris is, is, is back ultimately, uh, on the roster.

06:10You know, who's the dude over there that, you know, he talks about competition and you're

06:16going to earn your spot and all that Christian Harris was the draft pick and, and everything

06:21else.

06:21And to bring in Totoa and stick with him.

06:24That's just like a little margins kind of thing that makes a world of difference with

06:28this defense.

06:29I mean, what, what's Christian Harris doing right now?

06:31I do not know.

06:32Some of it was last year.

06:34I think injury injury clearly and then vagaries.

06:37Yeah.

06:37That's a great point.

06:38Yeah.

06:39Um, I don't know that we have a great view on point on that, but yeah, they have been

06:42loyal to Henry Totoa and believed in his ability to develop and he has developed, right?

06:46There's still small instances where you go, okay, there's the, there's the downside of

06:50Henry Totoa, but it's a lot more positive than negative.

06:52I think that that is 100% fair.

06:54A great one that comes in and this is actually a Nick Casario joint.

06:58So I had to pay, I guess, well, I guess they do it as a team, right?

07:01It is a tandem or a brain trust there and they all, I guess, uh, add in and it's not

07:05about who gets credit in instances.

07:07A three, two, they go further back giving the extension to Davis Mills.

07:10Like, where are you?

07:11Sure.

07:12With, without wins, the particular confidence, cool, calm experience of Davis Mills, right?

07:19I don't know who your backup coordinator is or backup coordinator, backup quarterback

07:24rather is if it's not Davis Mills, right?

07:27Do you have another one?

07:28Is it just Graham Mertz?

07:29I don't know exactly how that plays out, but if it's not, I don't know that you have

07:34for certain the calm that you have with him or the particular comfort that he has in seemingly

07:39this system that Davis Mills brought to this, that seemed to help him get those three wins

07:43and just be, be enough for them offensively.

07:46Right.

07:47And then how about even smaller margins?

07:50You, I think in 2024, you released Miles Bryant or put him on the practice squad.

07:54Uh, then he comes up, uh, I think he was on the squad earlier, then he goes back to the

07:59practice squad and now he's, he's, he's not dominant by any stretch, but he's making

08:04some plays.

08:04And then the other one, we were having discussions sitting right here during training camp.

08:09Is Tommy Togiai going to make this squad?

08:11Yeah.

08:12And I think most of us said, uh, I don't know.

08:14Yeah.

08:15I don't know.

08:16That dude is integral, integral in what this defense is doing.

08:20We, we didn't even know.

08:21We thought he wasn't even going to make the squad.

08:23And like D'Amico said in training camp, when we all kind of snickered in some ways, that

08:29is the most consistent dude, maybe on the team.

08:32Yeah.

08:33And buddy, they weren't lying.

08:34Like Tommy Togiai, if there's one thing he's going to do, he's going to eat up these

08:37blocks.

08:37He's going to, uh, he's going to stop the run.

08:39He's not necessarily going to be moved in those moments.

08:41And now he's going to give you some sack, sack and a half.

08:43Yeah.

08:44Right.

08:44Yeah.

08:44Like he's going to give you some of that.

08:46And he has been a godsend, especially it's the moment where you find Tim Settle goes down.

08:50He stepped in and had even more of a impact.

08:53Like it's scaled, right?

08:55Typically, at least in my mind, correct me if you think I'm wrong here.

08:58If you talk about a player that is lower on the depth chart, so to say, quote unquote,

09:01because I know that this, this team, they don't consider it.

09:04They use their depth chart differently, but as someone who's lower on the depth chart plays

09:07a niche role in a team when you go, all right, we need you to do more.

09:11That doesn't always scale, right?

09:13Sometimes they're at their capacity.

09:15It's scaled for him.

09:16He gets more reps and it's like, here's more production.

09:18That is, that's a lot to ask for.

09:20Especially when you're, and being notable on a defense of this caliber, we've got dudes

09:24all over the place.

09:25Petrie, Stingley, Lasseter.

09:27And making, and getting your name called.

09:28And you're getting your name called.

09:29That is huge.

09:30That is huge.

09:31We're talking a lot about the defense.

09:32I think that is, there is one thing that was a hair pulling out and then ultimately

09:37ended up being good, which is the offensive line.

09:39I think we'll dig into that more, but I think finally finding and establishing who was on

09:44that offensive line was huge.

09:45I don't know if you want to make that as a credit for the coaching staff.

09:48I don't want to.

09:49It took him 12 weeks.

09:52It did.

09:52It really did.

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