Texans coach DeMeco Reigns' defense key to beating Chiefs

HOUSTON — With 21 seconds left in the third quarter of Saturday's AFC Wild Card game between the Los Angeles Chargers and the Houston Texans, Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert scanned the Texans defense, and sent receiver Ladd McConkey to the slot. left side.

Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans, who led the drive with a touchdown, called it an inverted Cover 2, arranged in such a way that it looked like a Cover 3 with a single high safety.

After Herbert caught the ball, he was pressured and sailed the ball high over McConkey and into the arms of waiting safety Eric Murray, who circled over McConkey before rushing toward the snap. His flat area.

Murray returned the ball for a touchdown, helping the Rockets win 32-12 and advance to the AFC Divisional Round with a 14-point lead.

This is a rare position for Murray – he usually plays deep back. On this play, he was in the zone corner position he normally occupies in standard second coverage. That's the position he played in for 15 games during the regular season.

“It gave me a different perspective,” Murray told ESPN. “… Let him throw short balls. You either hit (the catcher) or the ball goes through his hands and ends up in your hands.”

Defenses intercepted Herbert four times on Saturday, a career high for the quarterback. His three interceptions total during the regular season was the lowest in the NFL.

“The rush and the coverage, it was tight together. We just kept it tight in the rush,” defensive end Will Anderson said of the Chargers' rout. “Their defense was sticky and we just had to make some plays, make some turnovers and take the ball away.”

It was the highlight of a game-calling masterclass from Ryans and another in 2024, where the second-year head coach's game plan put the Pro Bowl quarterback through the worst day of his career .

During the regular season, the Texans' defense ranked sixth in yards allowed per game (315) and 14th in points allowed (21.9). The unit forced Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen to his lowest completion rate ever (30%) in Week 5 and Miami Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa to a career appearance in Week 15 A high of 4 turnovers (3 interceptions and 1 fumble), and an interception in Week 15. The Detroit Lions' Jared Goff set a career-high three times in Week 10.

“It takes four quarters of concentrated time,” Reigns said of the preparation process. “Lock your mission and then let your God-given abilities take over and accomplish what you are meant to accomplish.”

Houston entered the season with Super Bowl expectations and got off to a 6-2 start. But after going 4-5 down the stretch, some are questioning whether those dreams are realistic. Despite this, the Texans captured the AFC South title under Ryans and advanced to the divisional round for the second consecutive season.

The Texans will try to reach the AFC Championship Game for the first time in franchise history, but two-time MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes and a Kansas City team that has made four Super Bowl appearances in the last five seasons will be waiting for them on Saturday. (4:30 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN/ESPN+). The Texans lost 0-2 to the Chiefs in the playoffs.

“We’re excited about the opportunity we have,” Ryans said. “We understand what's in front of us. A great team (Kansas City) that has done a great job the past few years and really dominated the league to finally get there.”

Former ALL-PRO The guard, who played for Houston from 2006 to 2011, has played the position before as a player. Reigns was part of the first Texans team to win the AFC South title and win the playoffs in 2011. They defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in the wild-card round before losing to the Baltimore Ravens in the divisional round.

That was Reigns' final season in Houston, which had yet to escape the division round (0-5). His two postseason wins are tied for the most on any coaching staff through two seasons, and he has the team's best winning percentage (.588) after going 10-7 for the second straight season. ).

He doesn't want his players to make this game any bigger, but they face a Chiefs team that knows how to get to the AFC Championship Game, having done so for six straight seasons.

“(They) have a great coaching staff, great players, a great team, just great in every aspect,” Ryans said. “So this is a very difficult challenge for us.”

In Week 16, the Texans lost to the Chiefs 27-19. Mahomes threw for 260 yards and one passing and rushing touchdown as Houston finished with its fourth-highest score (27 points).

Team Ryan won't “get much” out of the first game against the Chiefs because it's a “different situation.” While he will rely on defensive coordinator Matt Burke and the rest of the staff to game plan, he will make the final decision on how the Texans defend. Each member of the defensive coaching staff is individually responsible for how to plan for specific parts of the opposing offense.

“Everybody has an opinion,” Reigns told ESPN. “I listen to everyone and at the end of the day my job is to make decisions and put players where they need to be. But I also listen to everyone. Every coach has a specific area of ​​the game plan” .

eve of this week 15. Ryans incorporated something new and highlighted rookie safety Kalon Bullock's throwing skills against the Dolphins. Through 14 weeks, Bullock is tied for first among NFL rookies in interceptions (four). Ryans has a way to get him another one.

Reigns knows Tagovailoa and Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel want to attack the middle of the field. When the Dolphins played the New York Jets last week, Ryans noticed a pass play where wide receiver Tyreek Hill ran a crossover route and tight end Jonnu Smith ran out Drag route.

The Jets were on coverage three, and Tagovailoa hit Hill on the route for a 17-yard gain in front of the safety. Burke said Ryans hopes to use more coverage to allow Bullock to hang out over the middle and “give him some time to steal some routes.”

With 25 seconds left in the second quarter against Miami, McDaniel executed the same play he did against the Jets. Reigns countered by deploying Bullock, usually a safety out of the backfield, in an inverted two-cover formation. Bullock circled midfield, jumped in front of Hill, intercepted Tagovailoa and sprinted down the field until he was brought down at Miami's 5-yard line. Houston won on a field goal just before halftime.

“He put me in a position he knew I was comfortable in — helping the defense by rushing the ball,” Bullock told ESPN. “That was the plan all week. Let me hover in the middle and let me make plays. My pick, we knew Tua was going to look away, but once he threw the ball, he really didn't look where he was throwing it so he wouldn't always see me.”

It was Bullock's fifth interception, but he wasn't the only defensive back to benefit from Ryans' game plan. Throughout the year, Ryans has limited several star receivers using cornerback Derek Stingley Jr., who was named a first-team All-Pro last week. Stingley was assigned to cover Hill, CeeDee Lamb of the Dallas Cowboys and DJ Moore of the Chicago Bears. All of his regular season interceptions (five) were against these players.

“There were a couple games where he said walk (shadow),” Stingley told ESPN. “These types of situations just give me the confidence to go out there and make sure I do what I have to do.”

Stingley added two more interceptions to his resume Saturday against the Chargers. The first came when Murray took possession of the ball after the sixth pick. Ryans initiated a covert fire zone blitz and brought defensive end Denico Autry into coverage.

Herbert threw the ball to tight end Will Disslee, and Stingley was in coverage – expecting a quick pass to beat the blitz. When the cornerback saw Herbert make the throw, he sat down and Stingley caught the pass after it bounced off his hands.

confidence point Stingley pointed to linebacker Aziz Alshahir's praise for Ryans. When the second-year coach challenges his players, he's sure to inspire them, too.

“The most important thing about anything he does for us as players is (give us) confidence,” Alshair told ESPN. “You want to know how to win games? Obviously, it's execution, but belief in yourself. He's never going to let us lose the fact that we are who we think we are. We're the big dogs, we're in this league , and we are great players who can play great games.”

Against the Bills, the Texans pressured Allen on 45 percent of his dropbacks, forcing him to go 1-of-14 for 24 yards from those spots. Alshair was tasked with acting like a spy to try to slow down Allen's running game, and he responded with a team-high eight tackles, three pass deflections and two quarterback hits.

Defenses know Allen prefers to go to the right because he rushed there 160 times, the second-most since 2018, according to Next Gen Stats.

“(Reigns) just told me, 'Hey, man, when this guy crawls, he's going to crawl to his right,'” Alshair said. “The team just did their own stunt. When I saw him, I just went and grabbed him.”

To overcome the odds against the defending Super Bowl champions, they'll need their defense to make franchise history. Going up against another Pro Bowl quarterback is a tall order, but defensive end Danielle Hunter knows Ryans will prepare them.

“We always rise to the challenge. We like hard things,” Hunter told ESPN. “We all want to compete.”