At halftime of the Texans' 31-12 loss to the Tennessee Titans, Ryans made an impassioned plea to his defense. He implored them to do what they came to LP Field to accomplish.

Against the Titans' run-oriented, ball-control offense, the Texans gave up three touchdowns in the first half and fell behind 24-12.

"I just talked to the guys and reminded them of what we were supposed to do, and they responded the way I thought they would," said Ryans, who led the team with 13 tackles, 10 unassisted.

After allowing 255 yards and the three touchdowns in the first half, the defense allowed 88 yards and a field goal on seven Tennessee possessions in the last two quarters.

"Sometimes, you have to get a little rowdy, but guys listen," Ryans said. "We didn't play well in the first half. We missed tackles. We didn't get out on third down. We let them drive down the field, and we couldn't stop them."

The second half was a different story.

"We had to be more accountable for our actions," defensive end Mario Williams said. "We had to play better technique and do what we set out to do. We did, but we still lost. I'm not going to sit around pouting about it, but we have to play better."

In some obvious passing situations in the second half, defensive coordinator Richard Smith had Williams line up at linebacker. Williams stood up next to Ryans and rushed Kerry Collins. He didn't sack the Titans' quarterback but Collins was forced to get rid of the ball quicker than he wanted.

"The idea was to try to get some pressure up the field," Williams said.

In the second half, Collins was 4-of-9 for 48 yards.

"It was all about stepping up," defensive tackle Amobi Okoye said. "We wanted to win bad. We wish we could have gotten more turnovers in the second half."

The Texans now must turn their attention toward Jacksonville, where they will need to keep up the defensive momentum they gained in the second half Sunday.