Houston Texans Coach DeMeco Ryans Aims For Levelheadedness During Winning Streak

The Houston Texans head coach doesn't want his players to get caught up in their newfound fanfare.

The Houston Texans are one of the hottest topics in the NFL entering Week 11, and a lot of it has to do with young talent on the roster.

Houston is led by a rookie quarterback in C.J. Stroud who has thrust himself into the Rookie of the Year conversation, and the Texans have already surpassed their win total from a season ago before the calendar hits Christmas. 

For a team that was so bad a season ago, head coach DeMeco Ryans is stressing the importance of not getting too high or too low during the course of the year.

“We stay humble and we stay hungry — that’s what it’s all about," Ryans said this week. "You stay humble, and that’s the only way I know how to approach it. Just as much as people talk great about you, if something goes wrong, they’ll be talking bad about you the next day.”

Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans / © Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

The Texans are fresh off a win over a sure AFC contender in the Cincinnati Bengals, and while that win has given them more headlines, it shouldn't change the way they approach each week, even if each opponent is not as daunting as the last.

“We don’t ride the ups and the downs of the season," Ryans said. "We prepare the same way each and every week and we go out and play our best football on Sunday. That’s all that matters. We can’t get caught up in the headlines because headlines don’t win you games. You got to go execute, you got to go play good football to win games and that’s the only thing that matters to us.”

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On paper, Houston has less of a challenge this week when it hosts the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, but avoiding a "letdown" game after the big win in Cincinnati will be paramount if the Texans hope to push their winning streak to three games.

Houston and Arizona are scheduled to kick off at 12 p.m. CT on Sunday, and the game will be televised on CBS.