DeMeco Ryans on Eliminating Explosive Plays, C.J. Stroud's Command and the Bengals in Week 2

0:00Welcome into the Mico Ryan show. I'm your hostess evening, John Harris. Yeah, I know you're expecting to hear Mark Van Damier, but nobody could hear Mark Van Damier on Monday, especially after that one on Sunday, a little under the weather. So I'm jumping in, but there's no Wally Pipp situation. If you know Wally Pipp is, well, you know exactly what I'm saying. Glad you're with me. It was a tough afternoon. You're Texas loose 36, 31, but there was a lot to build on. We had a chance obviously on his own show. You catch up with your headball coach to Mico Ryan's. Here we go. Coach always great to see him. Hey, great to see you guys as well. I know this is a tough one. You had to week two Cincinnati on the horizon. And I know the list of to-dos is long, but what stands out to you is some things you need to correct right away before you face the Bengals. The first thing to correct is the explosive plays. Know the Bengals, Joe Borough and those receivers that he had. They can be a very explosive and dynamic offense. So it'll start there on a defensive side of the football. We have to do a much better job of eliminating the explosive plays

1:03by being on top and coverage, not allowing the ball to get behind us. Coach, defensively, how much of what they did was different from what they did the year before, even though it's the same guy calling it, how much were they doing differently from what they did before? Most of it was the same, offensively, same running game. Trying to get cook started. He had a few plays on us early, but I thought that the guys buckled down, tackle well, played the wrong, built the wall better. In the second half, we were able to limit his yards. I only think it was like 80 yards rushing. So that was a really good day in the running game. Then the passing game, it was the same passing concepts for us. It just came down to leverage and being where we were supposed to be, whether that's outside or inside leverage. Just guys being on the same page and being on top. You can't allow people to get behind you on defense. They get behind you. And you have a quarterback who can throw at the distance. So we just got to play with better awareness. We got to be where we're supposed to be, play together.

2:05And then you can eliminate those explosive playing. The key thing about explosive plays is when you give them up, it just leads to them being in field goal range, being in striking distance, and it leads to points. So keeping the points down, to keep points down, you have to try to eliminate those explosive plays over 15 yards. Coach, is it that sometimes guys want to make the really big play? Because from time to time, you've come in here and said, if everyone just lines up the way we line them up, the way we want them to be lined up, everything will work out the way you want it to. For sure, you have opportunities too. Sometimes it's, do I go for the ball or do I now or do I just stay on top? And that's to the players judgment, right? You never take that away from a guy you want a guy to be able to try to be aggressive and go make that play because you're excited when he does make that play. And sometimes it doesn't work out in your favor. But overall, there are all the things that happen in the game as a coach. As I look at, it's like, oh man, it's a huge let down, but it's also fixable.

3:06That's the encouraging thing. So I'm not down in the dumps. Of course, I wanted to win that game. A lot of things are fixable from the defensive standpoint. I mean, often everybody had their part. Everybody could have made a play here, there, different. Decision here, right? For us to be in position to win that game, it didn't happen. When they made those explosive plays and they put points up on the board, I thought was impressive coach, was your offense answered, especially when it got to 2014, I guess what it was, yeah, 24 or 14 within two minutes. You went right down to two-minute drill and CJ drilled that one to Nico right before the half. How did that do you? How did that feel that? Hey, our offense went and answered when they needed to. Yeah, we don't want to give up this explosive plays, but the offense is answering. They're punching back in this 12-round fight. I felt really good about the game when I saw the way our offense was moving the ball. It's like, man, I really don't want to be in a shutout. I mean, a shootout.

4:07A shootout? Yeah. But that first week of the season, this might be just a shootout. That's what happened last year watching Baltimore and deals play. That's right. It was a shootout. Man, I don't want to be here, but the way our offense is playing, this is what it may have to be. It's like, who gets the ball last? They're going to have to find a way to make a play to win the game. That was encouraging for me watching our offense drive up and down the field watching them. They were playing sticky coverage on Nico to still see him just have contested catch out to contest the catch. It was just impressive to watch. See us run the football and we'll stick with the run. I was very encouraged. I was like, okay, man, we can hang if we just get a few more stops. Our offense is going to put a point. So I didn't have a doubt in my mind, man, we can come out of this name on top. We just got to find a way to get a few more stops and offense keep putting it in.

5:09What about the running game coach? You can actually build on this, right? With the offensive line changes, you made this was their debut with David Montgomery and Woody and they got good yards on the ground ran from 124. Proud of the offense line just for the physical nature, which they played, which they played the game. Guys were really good. They were on the details when it comes to communication standpoint of who we were going to, who we're blocking. Guys played with good levers. We played low. We were able to move the line of scrims really well. So we were able to run it for 30 over 30 times to get over 100 yards. Andy and Dimo both ran the ball well. Dimo made that one run where it's definitely stuff with block for zero. And he come out. He's still he's still moving running. And he gets four yards. I said, okay, man, this is impressive. That's what I've seen from him since he first arrived at OTA's training camp. Like you seen a guy who is relentless with how he runs the football in Woody. He's just like man, a burst.

6:10He gets the ball. He was moving down the field as well. So to have both backs run the way they run to be in situations where it's third and one, fourth and one. And you know, I don't need to blink. It's like I see how often it's lying. Can move guys and we can go get a yard. It just gives me confidence, gives our team confidence. And we can go and make those critical fourth down, please. I know you as a former linebacker, you watch David Montgomery and Mark learned this early in the game. Like he's not down. Don't call it down. Don't call him down because he continues to go. And I know it's got to be tough coach. Let's talk about CJ and what you thought of his performance. I know the fumble early than last one fumble, but it was getting sacked. Your thoughts about everything you're between that from CJ. I'll see Jay. So you know, tremendous improvement from just how he managed the game. You know, how he showed command and confidence in the offense. The throws he was able to make the decisions he made.

7:12I mean, on the one turn and long for him to see is not there. We're there in double coverage. I can take off and run the balls. Really great decision by him. I thought he played just, man, his demeanor. He was just even killed the entire game. He never let anything, you know, phase him. He just kept punching. And it was like, okay, Josh Allen, you're making plays. I'm making plays as well. I love the where he was in that game. And I love how he's ascending. And I think it's going to be really special for us. He's just keeps building, you know, everybody just continues to stay together, work together. We got offense that can put up points. It feels like everybody caught a pass. I think he threw into Johnny at one point, the one or two, 11th, from guys for it. And all four tight ends coach, what about that? All contributing in that way. And to be able to have, right, four tight ends up on game days, like, okay, how are you going to utilize these guys? So I thought Kaylee did a really great job of just mixing it up. Yeah, Faucer was able to catch a few, Dawton, we know he's going to catch the ball.

8:16I think Kay had one, Marlon had one. So to spread the ball around the four tight ends, not just coming in just a block, but they can be dispersed in the past game. And you don't know what's coming from a defensive perspective. So I thought we utilized our tight ends really well. And they did a really good job of blocking. They are part of the run game. They are an extension when we're blocking on the edge, really takes those tight ends and also Kay sometimes putting them at that full back position. They had to be physical, they had to move some guys who were in the hole. So Kay did a really great job of blocking as well. You got in that, Puket in that full back position a couple of times on fourth and ones. We talked about this a little bit after the game. Where does your confidence come from that you felt like, especially the fourth and one in our territory? Like, oh boy, here we go. Yeah, you got it. And then you get Woody with the second one, demon with the first one and that. They're not on the goal line. Same thing. You get in the straight affirmation. You put in the end zone with David right there. Where is the confidence coming from to be able to go for those fourth and ones and then

9:18obviously believe in David to get that short one there. The company has come from just watching our guys in training camp, right? Watching them move the line of scrimmers and also just watching our coaches and our installs and how we're preparing in meetings. Our guys were will aware of the particular fronts that we would get and how we were going to block it. We were confident in how we were going to block it. How we're going to disperse the guys were confident with Kaylee and what call we're going to in those situations. So when I see the way they operate through the week coaches and players, it gives me the confidence. So I know, hey, we get the game day, fourth and one. I'm rolling with my guys because I know they're prepared and they're ready to go. All right. Great stuff from D'Amico. We're coming up. So stay right where you are. We got D-Mode, David and my Gummary. Three tuddies to kick off the 2026 season here in Houston. He'll join us a little later in the show. Stay right here. Listen to D'Amico ride show on 957, the fan. Welcome back. Listen to D'Amico ride show. We'll get back to D'Amico here in just a little bit.

10:20We got David and my Gummary coming up. He was on the post game show with Sean Penner, Gast and Clint Stearner and while everybody Andy Klu, who knows football inside and out gave us some good insight into the locker room today. But let's return to the head coach of your Houston Texas, D'Amico riots right here. Coach, I don't know if we'll have cameras in the team meeting, but take us in there as much as you possibly can because I know that we're not fooled by the smile all the time. You're very tough on these guys, right? But how tough do you get after a game like this? We talked about this guys. What kinds of things do you say to get them going into week two? The thing I start with is I put up whatever our keys to victory, our keys to win the game. So I just bring to their memory of what we talked about prior last week going in before heading into this game. And I can check off things that we didn't do. A number one thing, defensively, was to eliminate explosive plays.

11:20So if we go into a game and we don't do the number one thing that we're supposed to do, how do we expect to win the football game? And so that starts with everybody just showing us the clips of us not being where we're supposed to be. And when we do it the right way, there are plenty clips as well of us doing it right. We do it the correct way. They don't get explosive plays. We win on third now. We force them to punt the football. So it's about being consistent, being really supposed to be. And also I showed the guys just collectively as a team that, yeah, it's defense. I know the explosive plays. That's what's being talked about, but also offense. We can't turn the ball over our first drive of the game to give them three points. We can't turn the ball over the last drive of the game. We're driving down the score. We can't give up a sack to knock us out. Knock us out of our red zone package. So there's a lot of things special teams wise. We can't, we got to make great decisions as a returner, right?

12:21To not put ourselves in a backed up position. We got to make another great decision to return the ball to get us in. So it's everybody and I have to show guys why we lost the game. And I know a lot of guys will take responsibility to say, hey, the game was on me. I should have made this player again. So I showed the guys that it's all of us. And it starts with me. It starts with our coaches, right? Then it's to our players like, are we communicating the right way? Are we, do we have guys in the right position? Do everybody understand what we're asking you to do? We win and we lose as a team. And I'll show guys that in our team meeting. But along those lines coach, having players that do internalize accountability. Like, I've got to be accountable for my mistakes. I imagine as a coach, that means more to you than guys are saying, no, no, no, it was barks fall. No, it was the meekos fault. I imagine you much rather have those guys that will take the accountability. But it's just a matter of kind of measuring it, saying, hey, look, when we lose the game,

13:23everybody's got to take a little bit of the blame. We win, everybody can get the credit. We lose, everybody's got to take a little bit of blame. But having some accountable players, I would imagine you got to like that more than the other way. I love having guys who are accountable. Yeah. I love how have guys who have that mindset that, yeah, if I make this play, I win the game for our team and you want that moment, you want that, that critical draw. You wanted to fall in your shoulders. I love guys who are eager for that moment and they're ready to perform in that moment. And they know like, man, I can be better. And that's what it speaks to me is like, I know I can be better. I'm going to be better. I'm going to learn from it. Right. I'm going to move forward next week. I'm going to be better for my team because of the lead down that I had this week. Well, I don't want to bring up last year, but I will in this way because a lot of the guys remain the same. You went through adversity early and you overcame it. How much does it help to know we can overcome things. The results of the game, okay, fine, but we have another opportunity ahead of us. Let's make the most of it. Oh, man, excited about the next opportunity. The week one, it's a learning lesson.

14:24It hasn't grown great for us since I've been here. It's just, it's one game, right? And you learn a lot about your team. As I always mentioned, like each year you build a new team and you got to see, okay, how's everybody going to respond when we get in adverse situations? So I who's going to step up and make those plays, right? And so we had a, we learned a lot this first week. We learned like, man, offense, move the ball really well. We learned defense. And you got to be in position where he's supposed to be to make, but they're all fixable. And we can fix those things. So guys, just got to be locked in, fix what we need to fix. We got to press forward this game. Doesn't mean anything to us. If we don't allow it to mean anything to us. We learn, we need to learn, we move forward and allow this game to make us better. Moving in assists and adding next week. Coach, you mentioned special teams a little while ago. And I would imagine you want your kickoff coverage to be a little bit better. But the two guys kicking the ball yesterday, pointing the ball felt like they did a really

15:25nice job. Kymie's big fuel goal. I know you got a ton of confidence in him and he buried that one. But Kai pawning the ball the way he did. Putting him at the four yard line twice, which last year, we took advantage of that. And yesterday, not as much. But the thoughts of your thought of what Kai and Kymie were both able to do yesterday. Kai was exceptional. To have those points, those the puns that he had, to give us the backed up opportunities. That's what you hope for with your punter, right? And he gave us exactly what we needed. Now those backed up opportunities, right? It's complimentary. So the defense has to come back and do what they need to do to keep the team backed up. And unfortunately, we allowed a couple of explosives to get out and backed up opportunities. But Kai did his job, did a phenomenal job, and then Kymie. I can't say enough great things about him. I mean, we're there. We're at midfield, third down. It's like, man, we got to get a few more yards here. And Kymie goes out and he nails 58 yard field goal.

16:26Like it's not that easy. So, man, it's great to have that guy on our side. He's a true weapon for us. And we want to use that weapon when we need to. And we needed him on Sunday. He came through big time for us. Coach, does it help that at least you've seen what the bills can do as you get ready to face Cincinnati because they have all those weapons, the receivers, they got a good tight end. They can run the football. Obviously, the quarterback, what about matching up against their offense? And very similar when it comes to playmaking threats. You got, you know, Cincinnati two receivers are really good. And the quarterback is all world players. So we got our hands full again this week. And I love it. I love it, man. I love the challenge going against Cincinnati. We know their high power, high powered offense. And defensively, our guys, I know they're eager to get to or they're eager to, you know, correct the mistakes that we made and go show what the 2026 defense will be about. Coach, when at what point it may be it's different from year to year.

17:28So when do you feel like trends start to set in for, and tendency start to set in for how an offense, you know, my block it up against Will and Danielle. Like, hey, the bills did this. Well, the Bengals followed that. Okay, this is going to be a tendency we see. You start seeing it in week two, week three. When you start seeing kind of tendency set in for all three phases, but how teams are going to attack you. And obviously how you want to attack other teams. We won. Yeah. We can't. Yeah, you kind of, you show, you know what's coming. Yeah, especially for us when it comes to our defense, everyone knows like Will and Danielle, they're exceptional players. Yeah. When you, you know, allow them to factor in on the game, they will similar to late in the game when Danielle doesn't get chipped. He's able to beat the tackle and he's able to hit the throwing arm or the quarterback. Ball goes in the air had an opportunity. You know, we have our eyes up. We have an opportunity to pick the ball off. So you're going to try to limit those guys.

18:28I think every offense will go in saying, Hey, we can't allow these guys to wreck the game. So we know that and we just have to plan accordingly for how we're going to deploy our goals. Coach, without Henry, can you talk about what kinds of things Henry does well that are hard to recreate as you look to replace his production? Henry is just man, since his rookie year, he's just gotten better every year. A guy can truly rely on a smart player, him and his Z's out there together. Like they play off each other really well. Henry is a really good communicator. He's a guy that can not only run the wheel on backer spot, but he could also run the mic linebacker so he could have dual duties. So we'll miss him just from a communication standpoint, consistency standpoint. You miss the toughness, everything that he brings. Just hate to help miss some time for us, but it gives the next guys an opportunity to step up and go help us win. Speaking of stepping up, JD getting a sack. Coming back after being away for a while, didn't get a mean get a ton of plays, but you rotate those guys so much, but he got a feel got a sack.

19:30That guy'd be cool to see, no? Yeah, that was a cool moment for a clowner to be back in a Texans uniform and for him to get our first sack of the 2026 season. That was a really, really special, no special for him. And we hope to continue to improve that. So like where he started, now we get, get those guys all rolling together. It should be a good weapon for us having all three hands out there. Coach, I know it didn't end the way we wanted it to, but the crowd was really good. They were loud. They were there. I know we need to see that again on Sundays. You take on another AFC power. Let's go. Let's do it again. Our fans were exceptional, man, to see the crowd just, see everybody in their seats and kick off to see everybody. And they're all white. It was cool. It was a cool moment. Our team felt that energy from our fans. Let's just keep it going. We love the support. We would love to have pulled that game out for you Houston. But hey, we're battling back week two. We want to see you in your seats again, man. We're excited to have a great game.

20:31And if you guys go home winners. All right. The Amigee Bank asked Coach question of the week. It's International Day on Sunday when you take on the bangles. So the Texans have an international game coming up in a few weeks' coach. I'm going to let you pick. You cannot pick England because we're going there. So you have to pick another country where you wouldn't mind where you'd like to play a game. And it can't be only based on being closest. Can't be based. So you get to pick a country of your choice. Man, that's a rough one. I haven't been many places. And you have to spend a week there. Did you ever play in London or had never started that? Never played in London. Probably wasn't going on here in the US. Oh, man. Where would I like to play? Man, that's a good one. I don't know. What's somewhere in Africa? That would be cool. I'd say, yeah, let's go to Egypt. Egypt? Egypt is going to be this. South Africa. Somewhere about 100 degrees. Yeah, yeah. Somewhere that's got to be just right. It's got to be the right time. If you're good, coach, thanks a lot.

21:31Thank you guys. All right. Great stuff from Dmitco. You missed any of that. That will be up on YouTube. Check out all of our podcast pages as well coming up. David Montgomery right here. Matt with the boys on the post game show. Some good stuff from the Texans. Newest running back. Congrats on the three touchdowns. I know it's the final score that you're thinking about, but congrats on a great Texans debut for you personally. Yeah, I appreciate it. Yeah. What's the mood like of the guys after that? Yeah, I mean, that was, that was a, that felt like a heavyweight fight out there today. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I think we're all pretty positive. We didn't get the result. We won it, but that's all right because we got a group of guys in that locker room where, you know, when these ships, we got enough leaders in there that could take it. And over, you know, so we find we exactly what we need to be. We'll clean up the things I need to be cleaned up when we're going. What was the mentality, David, when you're out when you realize the game was going to be a little bit more back and forth and probably more high scoring than expected on the sideline? Was there a shifter? Is it just a, hey, whatever presents itself with us? We got a role. You know, the conversation was just every time we touched the ball, we got a score.

22:35Unfortunately, we weren't able to do that. But we'll be fine. I'm not really worried or concerned. You know, it's a lot of people who want to try to, want to try to drive us in different directions. But, you know, this is football, the NFL. What we're talking to David Montgomery Texans running back, you know, obviously CJ Strauss has been a big topic this off season here in town in the training camp that he had was a huge topic because he had a very good training camp. And you guys put up a bunch of points today and CJ did a lot of good things out there today. Can you take us inside the huddle, I guess, and what, you know, how was CJ's temperament today? What was he, I mean, you guys fought right up until the end there? Yeah, I think it's such a good thing to see good, bad, or different that CJ can stay consistently calm and be himself, you know, he's a quarterback, the general of his team. And when everyone else around is kind of freaking out for 100 kind of state even kill, not get too high without the tool over the lows, you know, it makes everybody else in the huddle realize, like, it's just calm down.

23:36It's just football, you know, it's, we practice at 12 o'clock every day. So it basically, it feels like practice. And you know, to kind of see him have his composure the way he does, you know, that's what you need in the leader. And, you know, he's progressing. I don't know how he was last year, but I can say for when I see this year, like, he's the ultimate leader and he's going to lead us to exactly what we need to be. The, I mean, you obviously were brought in here because you can, because you can ball, right? But one of the things is your style, your mentality, bringing a level of physicality to the game. You with a couple of other guys, maybe upfront, were brought in, I think, for a specific purpose, other than just being really, really good at what you do. What is that one? Is that accurate? But two, in your mindset, since the time you got here to now, kind of how have you wrapped your head around doing just that and accomplishing that and making sure today that when we kicked off this team was there? You know, the one thing that I can say in recent past, I was never very vocal. Never been in a position to where I felt like I needed to be vocal.

24:36I was always allowed, like, my play or my style, kind of like, talk for me. But getting here, you know, me having a step out of my comfort zone, realized, you know, in order for this office to go, I got to open my mouth. I got to be vocal. You know, I got to let guys know that, you know, I'm going to run behind my pads and I'm also going to be the vet, eight year vet coming in and, you know, being courageous enough to open my mouth and be a leader. You know, and I think sometimes you got to leave with your pads and how you play. I think sometimes too, it's good for people who are going through the same thing that you going through, you know, playing the same game the way that you play it, that they hear from you. So again, I just want to kind of be the best version of myself and ensure that, you know, I can help lead this office and lead the team ultimately. That's really interesting. Is that something that you thought of as you were getting traded here? Is that something that you were here for a little while kind of observed and said, man, maybe I need to be more vocal? You know, that's how to do it about we kind of young. You know, and you don't always just want to hear from CJ, you know, he does a great job

25:36leading, but you know, he also, I feel like, I mean, every president got his vice president, you know, every, you know, captain got his co-captain, you know what I'm saying. So I think having, allowing CJ to know that like, I got all the support in him and I'm right behind him on anything, you know, along with Darlan and along with Nick, like all of these guys on this side of the ball, like he ain't got to be the only one who got you know, lead his guys on that side of the ball who can lead and will lead and I want him to know that and also want the guys on the office and on the team to know that like, we all got leaders all around his team. Yeah. David Montgomery, Texans running back joining us. There were a lot of short yardage situations in this game today down near the goal line, a couple of fourth and ones on one of the drive touchdown drives that you guys had this team. You know, you're new to the team this year. Short yardage was an issue for this team last year. I think that's why a lot of Texans fans were so excited that you joined this team is that's one of your strengths is getting those tough yards. You had to do that several times today. You take it inside your mentality and situations like third and one fourth and one first and

26:39goal down at the two where they hammered you a few times down there. Yeah. I think to know that you got a head coach and office coordinator that's going when you get those short yardage situations and everybody in the stadium knowing it's going to you like, you got to take pride in that, you know, getting down on the goal line and we running it back to back and we not getting in on the first two times and then we able to punch it in the third time. Like the mentality to know like, all right, we got enough guys who got a mentality and have a a prideful mindset to know that when we get in a situation like that, we can get a yard. If you can't get a yard, you're not supposed to be playing football. Yeah. That's a good way to put it. We know you got to get out of here. Hey, before we let you go, I think fans are probably curious how you acclimating to Houston, how you liking it here so far. Oh, I love it here. It's just hot. You know, it gets better. Yeah, I've heard that. But I felt it. Yes. Well, like Christmas, it'll be fine. Yeah. I'm still getting acclimated. It's a different beast, but it definitely make me feel more conditioned on that again.

27:43Yeah. The video, the Iron Sharpens Iron with you and your son at the zoo. I don't have any chance to watch it or not. I know you experienced it. Obviously you were there. It was awesome. Your son is fantastic. Beautiful. He's great. He's hilarious. Yeah. Yeah. The parenting moment that we brought up, I do the morning show on this station, the parenting moment that me and my co-host brought up because we were talking about you and your son. And for those who missed it, go out of your way to find it. Iron Sharpens Iron, it's on the Texans YouTube. And it's the whole thing centered around. Willie Anderson going fishing in Galveston and Dave Montgomery taking his son to the to the Houston Zoo for the first time. And the parenting moment we could most relate to is when you were arguing with him over whether it was a lion or a tiger. And eventually you're like, fine, it's a tiger. You win. He has it. I want my son to continue to be courageously challenging so that he's exposed to things that he feels like. If it's something that he feels like he can stand on if it's worth standing on, I want him to be courageous and confident enough to stand on it. So if that comes an argument between me and him, I'll let him win.

28:44He's got a big personality, man, for sure. For sure. Well, listen, man, we know there are better days ahead for this team. There's just too much Dan Talon on this team on both sides of the ball for there not to be. Congrats for you on a great debut and go get the the bangles next week here at the reliance stadium. Nice to play. All right, great stuff from Demo right there. We're going to have more with my post game interview with Demiko Ryan's come up later in the show and also Andy Kalu coming up on a Demiko Ryan show. Welcome back to the Demiko Ryan show. I'm John Harris, sideline reporter football analyst for your Houston Texans after the game. I had a chance to catch up with Demiko Ryan to get his thoughts immediately after the Texans 3631 loss to the bills. All right, coach, if you were fan at home, of neither team, you probably watch one Hello football game. But I know when you drive home tonight, there will be things probably not at you a little bit. What's probably the biggest thing that will be not at you think on the drive home and throw it tonight? Oh, the biggest thing for us is, you know, defensively we had opportunities to make plays and we didn't make our plays. They made their they made the plays, right?

29:46And, you know, that's happens in football, right? You know, they got great players as well. We have great players. They find a way to come down with the football, make those plays and we didn't. So, you know, credit to the bills first and foremost. I'm not down on our guys at all. We're in position. We just got to find a way to finish them. Let's talk about offense. Did some good things today? But you overall thought about what you saw from the offense today against the bills. I'm really proud of the offense. I thought, man, CJ had great command. We ran the ball well. Did exactly what we wanted to do. We controlled the line of screaming from that standpoint through the ball, up and down the field. Just really proud. They gave us more than enough points that we needed to win this football game. It was just, you know, let down on the defensive side of the football that, you know, we can't let happen. We win, lose as a team, and we expect to play much better than that offense did, outstanding job. Of course, it all comes down to the ball, right? We turned it over two times, right? They were able to get points off of that turn over off of one of them and the other one ends the football game, right?

30:47And then we don't turn, we don't get any turnovers on defense. And this team, like in their history over the past few years, when they even wanted to turn over battle, they've won the game. Last year, we won the turnover battle, we won the game. That's the difference. It's the ball. That's what it comes down to. Coach, you thought it was interesting on the one scoring drive. You had two fourth and one's. One actually in our territory, decided to go for it, got it, got the fourth and one with 40 little while later. So I looked at offensive line, was moving guys, where was the confidence coming from, were you called for two fourth and once to go for it on that drive? I've had confidence for our offense, and I've been building up all through training camp. And I've seen the way these guys have worked. I've seen how we prepare for short yardage. Our guys are definitely ready for it. And they gave me the confidence that I needed to make sure, hey, we can go for this. And I know we're going to get a yard as we studied it all week. I'm proud of those guys for really dominating the line of scrimmers. They did it. I told them, we need a yard.

31:47Let's get a yard. Those guys did that man allowing us to go down the score. So credit to the O-line. Great job. Now it's Cincinnati. I know we didn't want to look ahead. In fact, now you can look ahead to Cincinnati. Just getting past this one and moving on to the next week. Got a full game in. Everybody got to play. Everybody got tackled. Everybody made tackles. Now you get ready for week two. What's kind of the big key and get ready for next Sunday, coach? Yeah, the big key is flush this one. You can't allow this to linger. Hey, good team. They get the credit. Great job out of bills. Right now you move forward. What are you going to do to improve? What are you going to do to come back better next week? Because as we know, our pun in next week, they really don't care what happened. All right, so we got to come out. We got to play better defense. We got to play better as a team. We got to protect the football. Take the football away. That's always going to be the formula to us winning football games. Coach, I appreciate it. Thank you. Thanks, John. All right, great stuff from Tameco right there. Now let's join our good friend, Andy Kalu. And we wanted to get his thoughts about how the bills protected against Will and Daniel.

32:49You know, I think the bus with offensive lines just took it upon themselves to take pride in protecting one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. If you know the defensive line, the front seven has been seen on Josh Allen over the last couple of games. And look, those guys get paid too. I'm not going to act like this is an issue. I'm not going to act like the defensive meeting room should be intense and going over every mistake that was made. Every technical move that wasn't done like we seen last year. But on the other side, I mean, again, you have an MVP quarterback. You have a Super Bowl of caliber team. That would not be surprising. There was an offensive line in meeting only as they and hey, we could take pride in blocking for this guy. And that's what you saw out there. And you've been in lockers before. I know after the game, Kamari Lacer took this one, took this one pretty hard. And that can lead to at some point question marks. It can lead to better play. How do you make sure it doesn't lead to question marks? And you know, performance is down the road that Kamari is better than.

33:50But he just kind of can't get out of that first week. Doldrums. I know he was really taking it tough. How is a teammate? Do you kind of make sure, hey, Kamari, you're one of the best players in this league, man. You got to flush this one and move on to the next. How do you kind of handle it as one of his teammates? John, because you've been in locker rooms, you pretty much answered your question. What you just said is what one of the leaders of the team says to him, like, hey, you know what, you make this play nine out of 10 times. Unfortunately, during the first game of season, that's the one time you don't make it. Kamari Lacer is not a guy I'm worried about. If anything, you know, there are special people we've all been around. And when something bad happens and they take it tough and they own it, they become better players. Like that's one of where we're going to look back five weeks from now. So you know what? It's because of that perception that you leave it more dials. And you leave it more focused. That's why he's having the season he's having. Kamari Lacer is one of the last guys that I'm worried about. When he's on a battle with you, he's going to be like for the remainder of the season.

34:51Well, Andy, we count on your wisdom on all your years of knowledge and everything you've seen. What do you make of this loss in general? Somebody approaches you on the street. Andy, what do you think the Texans lost to the bills? Your thoughts after week one. I think two teams that are top five teams, and this the two teams that are that have legitimate hopes of going to the Super Bowl, they battled it out. And you had what you believe was a great game. I mean, if you didn't have a dog in the fight when the game was over, you're like, man, that was a good game. You know, this wasn't Miami. This wasn't Tennessee. This wasn't, you know, some of these trash teams that didn't even think about the Super Bowl views or two heavyweight throwing pounds per pound. The Houston Texas were used to seeing their jab come from the defensive side. We didn't see that, you know, Buffalo scored in every quarter. If I'm not mistaken, and that's just something we're not used to seeing. But I like that going into meetings this morning is not a bunch of guys patting themselves on the back. You have offense that put up 31 points that played pretty well despite the turnover.

35:54Excuse me. In those turnovers aren't on CJ Shryd. I'm not sure what was being said after the game. If you have the fumbles, but that last but not think that's an offensive lineman issue, you have a defense that still has the horses, but for whatever reason, they give up 100 yards and seem intuitive for guys. But I'm not worried about it. You know, I think the meek less of mine, and they have the players. So this could be a good thing. It better get fixed real quick because you have another high par at offense coming to town. One of the things we noticed, and you know, you did too. She loved watching you, Hunter and William Anderson. It felt like every single pass rush, they had one and a half to on sometimes three guys preventing them from getting to Josh Allen. Now sometimes it took Max Protect, only three guys out in a row, including potentially a running back and two wide receivers, maybe a tight end wide receiver. They did some max protection, but those two guys did not get singled up. I would think, now that sounds like common sense. Like you got a double team or chip or whatever

36:56to keep those two out of the back field. I feel like those two had better get ready for that because they're gonna see that all year. How do you think teams or do you think teams, ND will copy what the bills did to make sure that those two don't wreck the game on a consistent basis? 100% you know, this is a copycat league and it works. So why wouldn't you copy it? And then when you think about all the reports coming out during training camp, how all sets is when we have the combined practice and the joint practices, or even when Will Landry sent a meal, Hunter was gonna get their own offense. How you can even run plays when you're blocking those guys one on one. So it just makes sense to say, okay, well, you know what? This is a team that has, you know, arguably the best pass rush duo in the league. So no, we're not gonna block them one on one. But you know where I'm going next? If that's going to happen, if you're gonna double team both guys off the edges, then you better get that pressure coming from the middle. You better get that set coming up the middle. You know, it's a team effort to get sacked.

37:57Many times, obviously, most of the time, only one guy gets credit for the sacked, but it's typically a four man rush that gets you there. So if you have double protection, max protection on your edges, then your guys that are getting the one on one block, that's your three technique, the zero technique, the inside rushers, they have to hit home. And that's why those inside of guys love playing with guys like the Neil Hunter, Will and you're saying because it allows for the one on one matches. Yeah, Andy, I think what you said is great about, you've got two AFC contenders going at it. Somebody had to lose, somebody had to win, Texans unfortunately lost this one. I think the way they lost is what bothers people, but if there's one area that can be fixed, well, it's the defense, they've got the horses to do it, like you said, but let's focus on special teams for a moment. I know they can't be happy with the kickoff coverage for the entirety of the game, but I saw some really good things, Kai Kroger, what a debut. We talk about 96 yard touchdown drives. That means they started out there for twice, and he had a lot to do with that. He had his cover guys, but man, those punts were good.

38:58Fairbaring hit a 58 yard bomb to take the lead. I liked what I saw from the kicking game, especially Kroger making his debut, youngest punter for a Texans team since 2018. That was good to see. You know, I'm very much brought that up because there are three-fafed football, obviously offense, defense, and special teams, and we tend to get. And just like you said, Mark, the Texas lost the game, but there are some positives from the offense aside. Obviously we don't like to turnovers, but when you talk about 31 points, CJ Shroud not having an interception in this game, you know, he threw it for close to 40 attempts. I think it was like 37, 38 attempts and the kicking game. I mean, fairbaring's doing what fairbaring does. 58 yards. Yeah, you know what? I'll just drill the right down the middle. And then with the punts, that's beautiful. And yeah, you find something positive because it's like, hold on, wasn't there a 96 yard drive, but I believe in this isn't because I played for the Texas, it's not because, you know, I played with D'Amico, it's because we all know football. And we see the stars you have on this defense.

39:59I just feel like they're gonna get this thing turned around. And if you offense, can continue to score 30 plus points, if the special teams looks the way they looked yesterday, and the defense plays their ability, I mean, this is still gonna be a special year. So I'm glad that you brought in that third phase that always gets overlooked, and they had a pretty good day on the special team side. Andy, let's talk about CJ, what you saw from him, had the fumble early. Then I thought he played pretty well. What are your thoughts about the way in your opinion, CJ, play yesterday? I'm playing pretty well. You have to protect the ball, but again, you know, there are some fumbles where I just, or a fumble, I said, man, that's on the whole line. But I like what I saw. Can he continue to get better 100% absolutely? But he didn't pick up where he left off last year, which is a good thing. That's kind of what I was looking for, looking for the body language to see how confident he was looking, and if he was just having fun out there, but no, I'm still excited about what he's gonna bring to this team on the center,

41:00and there's things that he has to clean up, but in my opinion, it starts up front. You, you, look, I know Russo, I believe he's number two, but defensive, yeah, we're Buffalo Bells played at Miami. I know he's a good russure, but either there are some moves that I say, come on, we have to be able to block that. So get the office and line to clean some things up on their past protection technique, and I, you know, it's a few days strut, if you can keep them in the pocket, keep them comfortable in the pocket, I think this is gonna be a special year, and he knows that he has to protect the ball, even if he is getting fat, you can't lose two fumbles again. Andy, what about the running game with David Montgomery? That's a nice debut for him, two rushing touchdowns, one receiving touchdown. In general, the ground game did do some good things yesterday, and I think that helped out CJ and the entire product. You run for 124. All right, no, it's throwing a parade, but that's a good total. This team won a lot of games last year where they ran for below 100 yards as a squad.

42:01No, I love that. And when I look at the running bag group, I get as a two head monster. David Montgomery, like you mentioned, three total touchdowns, 50 yards rushing. He's only average three yards of pop. Obviously he wants to get that a little bit higher, but then when you combine what he did with Woody Marks, you know, Woody Marks having enough yards to put them combined over 100 yards. I think that's the expectation for throughout the season. Yes, either Woody Marks or David Montgomery once, they wanna have that game where they hit the sensory mark. That's what running backs look for to get 100 yards marked. But when I look at those two guys, I kind of just see them as one. You know, I see them as one. That's gonna be your two head monster. And when you combine what they did, I think it was a good day for them. Just watching Philadelphia and watching. Did you see how this Philadelphia watching the game? Yes, yesterday. Yes. Two-pointer. Indy, you have a teammate that basically goes solo on his own and gets you a 15-yard penalty,

43:02which costs you basically the game. So you're a captor or a leader of the team. Say who it is. Stefan Diggs. Thank you. Stefan Diggs hugs the goalpost. It's a 15-yard penalty. It costs them. They gotta go for two at the end. They don't get it. They lose to Philadelphia. Now, that's a little different than Camari internalizing all that happened. Yes, you're in Camari. It's gonna be fine. But as a teammate, what do you say as a captain of the team? What do you say to Diggs? I mean, he's been around. He's seen some things. I mean, he's got caught up in the moment, I guess, but it's something stupid you shouldn't do. How's the teammate do you handle that one in the locker room? You know, that's a good one because he's been around so long. And I know you're not comparing it to Camari and Laster. Camari and Laster, you know, you just have to make keep your head up. You're gonna make that play. But when you do something that appears to be selfish, and it's like, hey, look at me moment. And it costs your team the game, it costs your team 15-yard.

44:02It's tough. If it's a rookie and you have that see on your jersey, you go to him and say, hey, man, you know, you're not bigger than the team. This isn't just about you. You have to understand how to celebrate, but you cost us the game. Like you let him know that. But a guy likes to find Diggs that's been around as long as he has to tell you the true John. I don't know what you tell him. Like, I don't know. And I've been in some strong locker rooms, but what a guy that's been in the league for over a decade, what a guy that has, you know, the numbers that he's put up, he knows that. So if you tell him anything, you tell him in the moment. You know, that's when somebody crashes out on the sideline. But he's not somebody you need to tell him after the game, after the showers, after you've cooled down. Hey, buddy, this isn't something you should do. He knows that. Like that's something. If it's not a crash out as soon as it happens, then I don't know if you tell him anything. And D, your best guess, Dmitriko Ryan's today. Team meeting.

45:03Is he mad? I mean, clearly he's mad. But does he show it to the guys? Does he give him tough love in the aggressive way? Is he going to be gentle, but firm in terms of what needs to be done this week? I'm dying to know. Look, I know he's going to take care of business. I think he'll press the right buttons this week. I have utter faith in this man. I want him coaching here forever. But your thoughts on how he's going to be this week. My guess, and obviously he's just a guess. He walks in. So for those who don't know, let me set the scene. Before you break out to your position meetings, before you break out to the side of ball meetings, the office of meetings, defense of meetings, the first thing you do is you have a team meeting. So the entire team is in the team meeting room. And you're waiting on the coach, like you're waiting on some Jay-Z at a concert. You know, everyone gets there on time. You have to wait for five minutes for the coach to walk in. I believe Mark that he walks in with that smile that lights up the room. Yeah, you know, he walks in with that smile. He tells the guys, look, we know where we messed up.

46:05And that's what we're going to work on this week. And I believe this week he keeps a positive with an emphasis on the reasons why they lost that game. He keeps a positive, but they're going to spend a bit extra time, you know, on pass protection for the office of life. He keeps a positive, but they might be a little bit more intense during one-on-one pass rush and making sure that the inside guys are breaking free when they have those one-on-one blocks. But I think I believe he walks in with that bright smile, but everything they do is so intentional, and they're going to improve on the weaknesses of yesterday. Tremendous stuff from our friend Andy Kallu. Appreciate him for joining the show. Of course, Demiko, for everything he brought to a great interview with him. Thank you so much for listening. We got Texans all access coming up next right here on 957, the fan. And as always, go Texans.