Texans’ DeMeco Ryans roasts ESPN’s Rex Ryan
It’s always fun to see when pundits’ bold predictions go wildly wrong, especially when they get called out by the team they picked against. That happened with ESPN NFL analyst Rex Ryan Saturday, with Houston Texans’ head coach DeMeco Ryans roasting Ryan for a take gone wrong.
How did that happen? Well, this started with a bold prediction from Ryan. Ahead of the Texans’ Wild Card playoff game against the Los Angeles Chargers, he made it clear who he thought would win. And he went even further than that.
Indeed, Ryan went all-in on insulting Houston. He claimed this matchup would be as good as a “bye week” for the Chargers:
Here’s Rex Ryan’s initial “bye week” comment, from “Get Up” on Monday. “Chargers, basically, I never realized, they get a bye. Oh, wait, they gotta play the Texans. What’s the difference?” pic.twitter.com/Ry3lju1OMg
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 12, 2025
Well, it wasn’t quite as relaxing as that, at least not for that team. Despite trailing 6-0 after the first quarter, the Texans stormed back and won comfortably, 32-12. That was helped by an awful showing from Los Angeles QB Justin Herbert, who completed just 14 of 32 passes for 242 yards with four interceptions, but Houston deserved plenty of credit of their own for both disrupting Herbert and executing their own offense (C.J. Stroud threw for 282 yards with a touchdown and a pick). And in a locker-room speech after the game, Ryans had a message for Ryan on that “bye week” line:
DeMeco Ryans led the Texans locker room celebration and referenced that ridiculous comment by Rex Ryan when he said the Chargers drew a bye this week.
pic.twitter.com/d59xHmG2lg— Mark Berman (@MarkBerman_) January 12, 2025
Ryan’s comment here even drew some pushback before this game:
#Texans Azeez Al-Shaair on Rex Ryan ‘I think that was more TV. He’s coached. I can’t fathom to think that he’s interviewing for jobs as a head coach and that’s his mentality that he thinks any week is a bye. He knows. I don’t take that personal’ @KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/dOxXGQBHkI
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) January 12, 2025
1-on-1 with #Texans DE Will Anderson:
On ESPN’s Rex Ryan saying their wildcard game was going to be a bye week for the #Chargers:
“It’s just outside noise. It’s rat poison that you can’t listen to. We hear it of course. You’d be a fool to say, ‘oh you don’t hear anything,’… pic.twitter.com/5oYicJovnf
— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) January 12, 2025
And, on Sunday NFL Countdown (where Ryan is a panelist), ESPN played the video of the Texans’ reaction to the comment, including Joe Mixon and other players smoking cigars and referencing his words. They then got to Ryan’s reaction to that (including “Who had the worse day, me or Justin Herbert?”, plus a claim that if the Texans had played this well all season, he would have picked them as Super Bowl champs, and an eventual “Sorry, Houston. But I’m not picking you next week either! Or maybe I will…”
Rex Ryan on the Texans’ reaction to his “bye week” comment: “Who had a worse day, me or Justin Herbert? …Sorry, Houston. But I’m not picking you next week either! Or maybe I will…” pic.twitter.com/PJ1b3H4K0u
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 12, 2025
While Ryan is trying very hard to get the New York Jets’ head coaching job, reports suggest that may not happen. So he may have to continue as an ESPN pundit. And it’s worth noting that this particular comment came on debate show Get Up, which we’ve often referred to as “Mike Greenberg’s Morning Hot Take Parade,” rather than the typically more serious and nuanced NFL Countdown. But if Ryan continues to be so bold with his takes on ESPN shows, there will likely be more occasions where he winds up eating his words (although not literally, unlike some) this way.
