The Texans' penalty problem is growing, with 70 infractions in seven games this season

Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans talks to a pair of referees during an NFL training camp practice at Houston Methodist Training Center in Houston, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle) The Houston Texans, fresh off getting stuffed on a Cade Stover sneak on third-and-1, lined up again in the tush push formation on fourth down in the second quarter of Sunday's game against the New York Giants.The Texans had options. They could run a play. They could try to draw the visiting Giants offside. They could opt out of either option, call a timeout and kick a field goal.Houston didn't get a chance to try any of it. A second or two after Stover lined up under center, right guard Ed Ingram fell forward for a false start.It was one of 10 penalties in the Texans' 27-21 overtime loss to the Giants. It was the fourth time in seven games the Texans have had at least nine penalties accepted against them this year.They had four such games all of last season."The penalties are ridiculous," coach DeMeco Ryans said afterward. "It keeps happening over and over again. So we've got to find a way to fix it or get different people in so we don't have the same mistakes over and over again."Houston general manager Nick Caserio called the team one of the most penalized in the NFL this week, and the numbers back it up.The Texans, who have an open date this week, are tied with the New York Jets for the fourth-most penalized team in the league, with 58 accepted penalties through the first seven weeks of the season. Houston's 508 penalty yards rank second in the league.But those numbers technically undercount the penalties called on the Texans because the NFL's official stats include only accepted penalties. Including declined and offsetting penalties, Houston has committed 70 infractions this season, or 10 per game.In that way, the Texans have actually been lucky. Their 11 declined penalties lead the league, according to NFLpenalties.com."It's just focus and discipline," Caserio said. "Even some of our better players are making some of those errors."Offensive tackles Trent Brown and Aireontae Ersery, along with cornerback Kamari Lassiter, have been the main culprits over the season's first two months.All three have been called for six accepted penalties this season, tied with four other players for the league lead, according to NFLpenalties.com.No other team has more than one player among those seven, and Lassiter is the only non-offensive lineman in the group. He also leads the league in penalty yards.Including declined and offsetting penalties, Ersery has committed the most penalties in the league."Penalties (are) what killed us," Ersery said after the loss to the Giants. "Got to get those fixed, and it just really comes down to concentration."What makes the Texans' high ranking among NFL teams even more concerning is that the team committed only two penalties against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 3. The Texans have committed two or fewer penalties only one other time in the Ryans era.But the Texans followed that 19-17 loss with 10 or more penalties in three of their next four games.Houston did have just six penalties in the win over the Jaguars, the only game during that stretch in which the total did not reach double digits. However, the Texans had four flags that were declined or offset."We got to find a way to get that fixed," quarterback C.J. Stroud said of the penalties.Penalties haven't been a strong suit for Houston since Ryans' first season in 2023. The team has ranked among the league's 10 most-penalized teams in each of the past three seasons, averaging between 6.7 and 7.0 penalties per game.The average is nearly 8.3 per game this year, and more than 9.3 per game if the Colts game is excluded.One or two more penalties per game might not seem like a lot. But when penalties are one of several areas of regression, those miscues loom even larger as the Texans hope to climb back from their 2-5 start."I don't know how many penalties we had, but we had some crucial penalties at crucial times that just derailed our drives," wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson said after Sunday's loss. "Whenever that happens, that's not winning football."SubscribeThere’s more to Houston with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at The Texans' penalty problem is growing, with 70 infractions in seven games this season.