'Rat Poison!' Houston Texans Coach DeMeco Ryans 'Not Caught Up' In Playoff Picture

The Houston Texans might have a bye week this Sunday, but they aren’t taking any time off on improving. They also aren’t worried about league standings.

Currently, the Houston Texans are tied for second place in the AFC South. 

Knotted up with the Indianapolis Colts at 2-2 on the season, coach DeMeco Ryans’ squad is already well on its way to surpassing last season’s gruesome 3-13-1 record, and had it not been for one last-second field goal, it would be in the first place. 

Atop the AFC South? Houston? 

It’s an unfamiliar phrase as of late, especially with the Texans’ lack of success under their string of short-term coaches, but with Ryans, it's possible. 

Houston is no longer stuck at the bottom. The Texans’ current standings prove that, but good or bad, Ryans isn’t concerned.

Houston Texans coach DeMeco Ryans speaks to his players during practice.  / © Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports

"Right now, seeding doesn't matter," Ryans said. "If you're focused on it, you'll slip because you're not preparing the right way. You have to prepare every week like it's a playoff game."

If Houston was playing in the playoffs every week, they’d have been eliminated two weeks in a row — and in some NFL pundits’ minds, they were. That was until C.J. Stroud found his groove and the Texans began to look like the much-improved team they were expected to be under Ryans. 

Stroud’s 1,660 yards and nine touchdowns have set him apart as one of the league’s top rookies. Between him, the Texans’ new additions at wide receiver — Dalton Schultz and Robert Woods — and even Will Anderson Jr. on the defensive end, Houston is building around its young talent, and it’s paid off thus far heading into its bye week. 

But again, Ryans doesn’t want his team to be focused on anything more than paying its best game week to week.  

"Don't buy into the rat poison," Ryans said, quoting a notorious Nick Saban interview. "You don't need to get caught up in it ... standings will take care of themselves if you handle business each week the proper way ... [we've] got to just continue to grind throughout the entire process." 

The Texans don’t play football again until Oct. 29, when they hit the road to take on No. 1 pick Bryce Young in Charlotte, but despite being off this week they won’t be taking any days off. 

Certainly not before a “playoff” game.