DeMeco Ryans Believes in Laremy Tunsil

The head coach believes in his offensive line bouncing back

“He knows where to align, and we just have to do a better job of getting it done.”

On Monday, head coach DeMeco Ryans was short and blunt about Laremy Tunsil’s illegal formation penalties. The left tackle for the Texans had three during the game, two were accepted. He also had three false start penalties called on him.

“We have to align right,” Ryans said. “It is clear with the rules of how we should line up so we have to line up correctly and that starts with us.”

How does he fix the penalties and the other issues plaguing his offensive line?

“We go to the drawing board, and we fix it,” he said.

The Texans have the sixth-worst quarterback pressure rate in football allowing a hurry, hit, or sack at a rate of 38% through three games. They give up the sixth-fastest pressure in football. They’ve allowed the fourth-most pressures total.

C.J. Stroud’s legs can mitigate some of these issues but this isn’t sustainable if the Texans intend to have one of the best passing offenses in the league.

The results should be better. Except for the run blocking in week one, the offensive line has disappointed. They dominated the Colts on the ground but the rushers got to Stroud. The next two games were poor in both facets.

This is the offensive line the Texans have wanted for 18 months. Tunsil, Tytus Howard, and Kenyon Green were here when Ryans arrived. The team traded for Shaq Mason last offseason and drafted Juice Scruggs. Injuries derailed the expected line last season, but there was no competition this year.

Ryans stood up for his players when asked if he still believed this was the offensive line for the Texans.

“For sure, our offensive line they will get it going,” he said. “They will do exactly what we need them to do. They had some really good reps in the game. Everybody likes to talk about the negative reps, we had a lot of good protection in that game where we completed a lot of deep passes in the middle of the field…I don’t let a few bad plays dictate who we are, I know who we are and I know how our guys will respond so I am excited about our o-line and what is in front of them.”

These are the guys the team wanted, and they have to hope they bounce back.

The Jaguars aren’t a formidable opponent, not like Minnesota. Jacksonville is 30th in quarterback pressure and is the sixth-slowest team for pressuring quarterbacks. It’s a good opponent to bounce back, despite talented pass rusher Josh Allen and the occasionally dangerous Travon Walker across the line of scrimmage.

“We have to line up right up, which I know we can do,” Ryans said. “We have to line up right and we have to protect as best we can up front. There is five guys just working together, or if it's six guys, if it is six we all have to work well together, and we have to play relentless. We have to swarm up front, and we have to get the guys blocked.”

Speaking of Pass Rush…

The Houston Texans have one of the best pass rushes in football. It wasn’t excellent against the Minnesota Vikings, but through three games here are some interesting numbers.

Pressure Rate

1. Will Anderson 22.9%

2. Danielle Hunter 22.0%

Pressure Rate on Third Down