The strength of this Houston Texans team in 2025 was their defense. Now, it is their weakness.
Houston’s one-envisioned historic defense has struggled all season with poor tackling and allowing big plays. All-Pro defensive end Will Anderson Jr. has put that on himself as a leader on the Texans’ defense, which is something head coach DeMeco Ryans admires about him.
“I love Will for his mindset, how he attacks everything. He's the definition of a true leader. That's a guy you want everybody on the team following because he prepares the right way. He truly cares. It means a lot to him. He weighs in on himself a lot. He puts a lot of on us, on himself, which a leader should do. I'm proud of him for that, for saying that,” Ryans said. “But for us, it's
just we have to go do it. Everybody, we have to go do it. We got to go finish games. We've been in a lot of tight ball games."
DeMeco Ryans on jumbo:
— Houston Stressans (@TexansCommenter) November 2, 2026
“The idea is to be able to run the ball at our will. Disadvantage is sometimes with jumbo you don’t have all of your passing threats on the field. We’ve gotten kinda heavy in the run category when we do have jumbo. We’re looking internally on how we can… pic.twitter.com/ieFdLSKDK4
Anderson should have a lot of fun on Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers, who have one of the worst offenses in the NFL. Quarterback Justin Herbert has already been sacked 23 times this season and Anderson could easily get one or two more in this game. It would also be good to see his sack drought end, since Anderson has not recorded a sack since Week 4 against the Tennessee Titans.
"As I saw this past Sunday, over half the games came down to being decided by eight points or less," Ryans said. "That won't change throughout the year. That doesn't change. ‘How do you find yourself on the winning side of those games?’ It's being great in situational football and it's finishing the proper way. If we do those things, that's when you earn the right to win games.”
The Texans return to the field this Sunday on the road against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 locally on CBS.
This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: 'A true leader': DeMeco Ryans praises Texans All-Pro DE Will Anderson Jr. amid struggling season
