Rex Ryan is looking to get back into coaching.
It’s safe to say the Houston Texans have permanently banned him from their list of potential candidates if the job were ever to be opened again after his recent comments about the team’s playoff chances.
The current ESPN analyst and former Jets and Bills coach recently appeared on “Get Up” with Mike Greenberg to discuss the Texans’ upcoming AFC wild-card matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers. Ryan didn’t hold back when asked if he thinks Houston, a 5.5-point underdog, can secure a victory on Saturday afternoon.
“I never realized they get a bye,” Ryan said. “Oh wait, they gotta play [the Texans]. What’s the difference?”
Texans not getting much love from Rex Ryan.
😂😂😂
“Chargers basically get a bye against the Texans.” pic.twitter.com/hjsNMTzoWL
— Will Kunkel (@WillKunkelFOX) January 6, 2025
Ryan wasn’t done. He applauded the development of Chargers quarterback Justin Hebert while pinpointing to the regression from Texans gunslinger C.J. Stroud.
“The Texans’ offense is struggling so bad,” Ryans continued. “They can’t protect the quarterback, The Chargers’ No. 1 scoring defense in the NFL going up against that offense? Wooh! Get ready for the next round.”
Houston’s offense has struggled since Stefon Diggs’s season-ending injury in Week 8. While there have been flashes of potential, there have also been multiple setbacks.
Ryan isn’t wrong that the Texans have struggled to protect Stroud, allowing the third-most sacks in the league and the most by any playoff roster. The defense also looked underwhelming trying to stop the two-head monster in Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson on Christmas Day.
But the Bolts haven’t proven much in the playoffs over the past two decades. Their last postseason win came in 2018. And who can forget about the 2022 debacle against Jacksonville in the second half of the wild-card round?
#Texans DeMeco Ryans when asked about Rex Ryan’s comments that the Chargers basically have a bye:
“It doesn’t matter who gives us a shot. Everybody has an opinion about us. But outside opinion doesn’t drive us internally.”
“We play hard anyway.”
— Jonathan M Alexander (@jonmalexander) January 7, 2025
Meanwhile, Houston is 5-2 all-time in the wild-card round weekend. The Texans are riding a three-game home playoff winning streak. The Texans are also coming off one of their better outings in a 23-14 victory over the Tennessee Titans, where the backups picked a trudging AFC roster now blessed — or cursed —with the No. 1 overall pick.
“For us, it doesn’t matter if anybody give us a shot. It doesn’t matter to me. At the end of the day, when the ball is kicked off it is about who is the best football team out on Saturday,” DeMeco Ryans said. “That is where our focus is on playing really good football.”
