Texans Coach DeMeco Ryans Perfectly Predicted Pick-Six vs. Browns

The first-year coach told linebacker Christian Harris exactly what to do. And it worked.

As a candidate for NFL Coach of the Year, Houston Texans coach DeMeco Ryans has enjoyed a standout first season. And, with his team continuing to roll in the playoffs, even the ex-linebacker himself appears to be in the zone on the sidelines.

The franchise-altering synergy between Ryans, who played six of his 10 NFL seasons in Houston, and his team was perfectly summed up in a clip of the coach’s insightful exchange with second-year linebacker undefined during Houston’s 45–14 wild-card win over the Cleveland Browns.

Harris and Ryans’s conversation took place prior to a pivotal fourth-and-2 stand in the third quarter. After telling him to “play the quarterback,” Ryans then explained exactly what Harris should do next: “As soon as [Browns quarterback Joe Flacco] snaps, you step in front of it, go pick it. I’m telling you, I’m telling you.”

As it turns out, the wise advice proved to be a rather emphatic prediction, as Harris followed Ryans’s words to a tee and turned in a game-clinching 36-yard pick-six in a moment that has to be seen to be believed:

Demeco Ryans literally gave Christian Harris the script!

Insane! pic.twitter.com/7l5hFsTzeI

— Patrick Storm (@PatrickStormHTX) January 17, 2024

The sight of Harris’s TD, which followed an 82-yard Texans pick-six, along with Ryans running down the sideline before fist pumping in excitement underscored an outing where little seemed to go against the Texans.

Now, thanks in part to his epic premonition, Ryans and Co. will face the No. 1 seed Baltimore Ravens on Saturday in what will be the club’s fifth divisional round appearance in 22 years.