How Hot Is DeMeco Ryans’ Seat After Texans’ 0-4 Start?

The Houston Texans are 0-4, and while it may be too early to say DeMeco Ryans is on the verge of losing his job, the pressure surrounding the head coach is becoming impossible to ignore.

Houston entered the season with legitimate expectations after making the playoffs last year after an 0-3 start. Instead, the Texans have opened the 2026 season in similar fashion, and Sunday's 34-30 loss to the Dallas Cowboys exposed many of the same problems that have followed them throughout the first four weeks.

At some point, those problems fall on the head coach.

The Texans committed 13 penalties for 90 yards against Dallas, repeatedly shooting themselves in the foot and creating unnecessary obstacles.

That is an especially concerning trend for a team that already has very little margin for error.

Houston also continues to struggle closing games. The Texans led Dallas 30-27 with just over two minutes remaining, only for the Cowboys to march 74 yards for the game-winning touchdown with 40 seconds left. It was the second straight week Houston allowed an opponent to take control late after having an opportunity to win.

The biggest question surrounding Ryans is how a roster with this much talent has gotten to 0-4.

C.J. Stroud is coming off a 347-yard, two-touchdown performance against Dallas. Nico Collins returned from injury and immediately caught seven passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns. Will Anderson Jr. remains one of the league's premier young pass rushers, Derek Stingley Jr. remains one of the league's premier defensive backs, while Houston has invested heavily in building a roster capable of competing now.

Yet the Texans have not put everything together.

The offense has struggled to run the football consistently. The defense has failed to close out games. And the penalties have continued to create avoidable and unnecessary problems. Those issues cannot simply be dismissed as individual mistakes when they continue to show up week after week.

That does not mean Ryans should already be considered a lock to be fired. There is still plenty of football left to play, and Houston has shown enough flashes to suggest this team is capable of winning games.

That said, Ryans has to find answers quickly.

The question is no longer whether Houston has enough talent to compete.

It is whether Ryans can get said talent on the same page while playing disciplined enough to win.

If the Texans continue down this path, the pressure on Ryans will only increase until a move at head coach is made.