Houston has yet to force a turnover through the first two games of the 2026 season, but Ryans isn’t concerned.
The Houston Texans have played two games this season without forcing a single turnover on defense.
For a team led by a defensive minded head coach like DeMeco Ryans, that’s certainly something worth monitoring. However, Ryans isn’t concerned about the lack of takeaways just two games into the season.
Instead, he believes the Texans are doing the necessary work to put themselves in position to eventually create turnovers.
“We work on taking the football away. The ball is on our mind. Turnovers come in bunches. We’re ready for the bunches to start rolling our way,” Ryans said.
The Texans have now gone through their first two games without forcing an interception or recovering a fumble.
That puts even more emphasis on Houston finding ways to create additional possessions for its offense. Turnovers can quickly change the momentum of a game, and the Texans are still waiting for their defense to make that type of impact this season like they did last year.
Ryans, though, is confident the drought won’t last forever.
His message indicates that Houston doesn’t plan on changing their approach simply because the turnovers haven’t come yet. The defense continues to emphasize taking the football away, and Ryans believes the results will eventually follow in due time.
“Turnovers come in bunches” is a common phrase around the league, but it is particularly relevant for a Texans defense that has yet to record one through two full contests.
The Texans are coming off a 20-6 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, making the lack of defensive takeaways even more notable. Houston’s offense struggled to put points on the board in the loss, and an extra possession created by a turnover could have provided another opportunity to score.
However, that doesn’t appear to have changed Ryans’ confidence in his group.
The Texans have a long season ahead of them, and the first two games are only a small sample of what the defense will have an opportunity to accomplish. If Houston can continue putting an emphasis on attacking the football, Ryans has no doubt that the takeaways will eventually arrive.
For now, the Texans are simply waiting for the first one.
The Texans don’t have to wait long for another opportunity to change that. As the season moves forward, the defense will have to turn its emphasis on creating turnovers into actual game-changing plays when those chances arrive.
With the Colts next up, I’d expect the Texans defense to be hungrier than ever.
