Oh my, the Houston Texans have been one of the NFL’s most disappointing teams. And silly penalties are part of the problem. The panic meter is bulging. Can the Texans’ defense rediscover its elite 2025 form after yet another brutal performance?

The Texans couldn’t solve JJ McCarthy and the Giants in a 27-21 overtime loss on Sunday. The Texans gave up 232 yards passing, which isn’t terrible. But they got ripped for 188 yards on the ground.

Where are the answers coming from after the Texans fell to 2-5 this season? Are they done?

Has HC DeMeco Ryans lost his defensive touch?

Ryans said the team can’t keep going in this direction, according to Fox Sports.

“For us it’s a new year, and it’s a new team,” he said. “We’ve got to definitely play better. The tackling wasn’t good enough today (considering) they rushed the ball the way they rushed it.

“We had multiple guys there at the point of attack, but we didn’t get the guys down. So, we’ve got to tackle better. We’ve got to finish better as a team.”

Being better in man coverage is a key area for improvement, according to the Houston Chronicle.

“We've got to be able to cover in man coverage,” Ryans said. “We got to be able to tackle. That's football. No magical elixir is going to drop out of the sky and, ‘Oh, now, you're going to fix it.' We fix it by putting the work in and getting better at fundamentals of football. And that's where we've got to just own it.”

Most notably, the Texans ended the game with an embarrassing effort. Giants running back Camille Skattebo ripped them for a 42-yard run to put them in field goal range at the 30-yard line. The Texans had already gone three-and-out, so all the Giants needed was a field goal.

However, Giants kicker Dominic Zvada had missed both of his kicks in the game. There was no reason to think they had this game in the bag. And then, Devin Singletary crushed the Texans with a game-ending 30-yard scoring scamper.

The Texans still have elite defensive players

So, is it a scheme thing? Defensive end Will Anderson seemed to allude to that possibility.

“Can’t give up some of those runs … with this type of defense that we have, you almost have to be perfect,” defensive end Will Anderson said. “There’s almost no room for error in this defense. And we have to find a better way to continue to play together, get the call, and have all 11 guys be on the same page.”

The Texans are in the middle of the pack, allowing 342 yards per game. The same goes for their 24.3 points per game average. Last year they led the NFL in yards allowed (277.2) and were second in points given up (17.4) to the Super Bowl champion Seahawks.

Linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair said the players still believe they can keep this ship from sinking.

“There’s nobody on our team that is happy about how it’s going for us,” Al-Shaair said. “And it’s one of those things where you’ve just got to show up to work every single day and keep pressing forward because something’s got to give. You know the process that we have, you know it’s worked. And we’ve done it.”

Excuses won’t cut it, Al-Shaair said.

“They made the plays that they were supposed to make to win the game, and we didn't,” he said.

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The criticism is loud and clear

Former NFL standout Jason McCourty said the Texans have failed to meet expectations in a dramatic way, according to a post on X.

“The Texans defense might be the most disappointing unit this season. Expected them to be at the very top of the league in every defensive statistic this year.”

Pro Football Network has a statistical view of the Texans’ problems. Their NFL defense impact rankings have the Texans at No. 21.

But let’s give the Giants some of their due. Without their defensive performance, they wouldn’t have won this game. It was a team effort, according to the New York Post.

“The biggest thing was energy,” safety Jason Pinnock said. “Last week, the biggest thing was the ups and downs of the game. We were big on, ‘When something bad happens, have energy.’ It’s a momentum game.”

The Texans have miles to go. They are three games behind the Jaguars as the season approaches the halfway mark. That’s a huge gap, but it’s not impossible. Can they put together a winning streak? That only happens if the defense plugs the holes.