Oct 5, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Houston Texans head coach Demeco Ryans stands on the sidelines during the third quarter against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images

Texans' DeMeco Ryans Staying Unbothered by AFC Standings

Originally posted on Houston Texans on SI | By Jared Koch | Last updated Oct 15, 2025 10:38 AM ET

The Houston Texans come out of their Week 6 bye not too far away from making noise in the AFC playoff picture.

While they're still behind the eight ball at a 2-3 record and third in the AFC South, a few things breaking their way could put them right back into the mix for that late postseason push. Only seven teams in the AFC have a record over .500, with only two having just one loss on the year, which bodes well for a squad like Houston.

But regardless of the surrounding state of the AFC and how those ahead of them could fall, Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans is not concerned with how anyone around him is faring from a week-to-week basis.

"That doesn't creep into my mind at all about where the other AFC teams are or what their record is," Ryans said during his weekly presser. "It's still early in the season. A lot of teams had a lot of really good starts to the season."

"It's all about how you finish the season. It's all about how your team grows throughout the season. Just because you have a great start doesn't mean it's going to be a great finish."

The Texans are one of those teams that had far from an optimal start–– three-straight losses to open the year, one of the league's bottom-feeder offenses, and hopes of an AFC South victory looked bleak.

Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Fast forward to Week 7, and the Texans' standing has certainly improved, but there's still work to do for Ryans and his group internally to get where they need to be.

"It's just continuing to work, continuing to control what you can control. And you truly focus on one game at a time; that's all that matters. You can't focus on what other teams are doing, the outcome of their games; it really doesn't matter."

"It has nothing to do with how you go and play, how you go and prepare. You don't do anything different because other teams are where they are record-wise. It's truly focused on us and getting better."

That week-to-week process for the Texans following the bye starts off with a tall challenge in the 4-2 Seattle Seahawks on the road on Monday Night Football–– and it's a critical matchup to take advantage of.

A loss drops this group to a daunting 2-4 to fall a bit further behind their aspired clip, but a third-straight win to claim an even 3-3 would be a super strong boost to morale in the building, and creep one step closer to being the first team since the 2018 Texans to start 0-3 to make the postseason at year's end.

Be sure to bookmark Houston Texans On SI and follow @TexansOnSI on X for daily Houston Texans news, interviews, breakdowns and more!