As the Houston Texans face the Detroit Lions on Sunday Night Football, you may have noticed that they have a distinct new look. The Texans are debuting their Battle Red alternate uniforms, which are part of their recent rebrand. Here’s everything you need to know about the team’s new threads.
Examining the Houston Texans’ Battle Red Uniforms
The Battle Red alternate uniforms were unveiled in April as part of the Texans’ rebrand. This marked the first time since 2000 that Houston updated its uniforms.
“For the first time since 2000, we are so proud to reveal our new uniforms,” Texans’ owner Cal McNair said when the uniforms were released. “They are even more special because they are inspired by and for our fans.
“Our fans asked us to be more H-Town, and we delivered. They were with us every step of the way and there’s truly something for everyone over the four uniforms.”
The Texans are wearing their 'Battle Red' uniforms on SNF this Sunday 👀🔥
📺: #DETvsHOU – Sunday 8:20pm ET on NBC/Peacock
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/2cfX2Qup6i— NFL (@NFL) November 8, 2024
Here’s how the Texans’ website describes the alternate uniforms: “Our Battle Red uniform now features a bullhorn shape that emerges from the shoulder stripe and matches the bullhorn on our all-new Battle Red helmet. It’s bold, with a candy paint red helmet, but it’s also tied to our classic bullhead logo.”
Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans is a fan of the new look.
“Battle Red jerseys, they’re sweet,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “I really like them, really like the helmets. It’s a really cool look, really updated look that I think our team has done a great job of upgrading our uniforms. And our players, they really love them, and I think guys are going to fly around. They’re going to look good on Sunday night.”
Let that heat talk 🔥 pic.twitter.com/iwpoKowG1V
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) November 5, 2024
“Red is my favorite color,” Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair added. “My mom assigned me green as my birth color, but I love red. That metallic, I like it, for sure.”
The Texans wore their H-Town alternate uniforms in Week 5 against the Buffalo Bills and their all-white uniforms in Week 2 against the Chicago Bears, but this is the team’s first time wearing the Battle Red combo.
Lions vs. Texans Preview and Prediction
The Lions are 7-1 and one of the most dominant teams in the NFL this year. They lead the league in point differential by 23, have just five turnovers on the season, and have a positive EPA (expected points added) in all three phases of the game.
The Texans are coming off a disappointing Thursday night game in which C.J. Stroud played poorly, and Houston fell to 6-3. The offense as a whole has left a lot to be desired with injuries and overall inconsistency, but the defense and Stroud’s clutch moments keep them dominant overall.
According to TruMedia, the Texans’ offense is ranked 20th in EPA. That includes the 18th-ranked passing offense and 27th-ranked rushing offense. The offense is ranked 26th on first and second downs and ninth on third and fourth downs. They also rank 23rd in turning a set of downs into a new set of downs. Part of the struggle on early downs is the play-calling from offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik.
Houston’s offense has a negative pass rate over expected on first and second downs and a positive one on third and fourth downs. If you look at this compared to the rest of the league, they rank 11th, 31st, second, and second on first through fourth downs, respectively. While it is nice that they are fantastic in late-down situations, that is not sustainable.
This is especially important against a defense like Detroit which boasts the 25th-ranked rush defense in EPA and fourth-ranked pass defense in EPA.
On top of this, the Lions have the No. 2-ranked pass-funnel defense in the league, meaning the Lions consistently force teams into passing situations. If Houston refuses to ditch the run on early downs, this could set them up with quite an unfavorable matchup.
The Lions’ offense has lived up to the hype, ranking fourth in EPA and capitalizing on big-play chances. Although they rank only 16th in plays gaining 10 or more yards and 12th in plays of 20+ yards, they are highly explosive on longer gains, ranking third in plays of 50 or more yards and fifth in EPA on plays of 10+ and 20+ yards.
The Lions’ run game is the perfect blend of scheme, offensive line talent, and running back skill. They rank fourth in yards per rush before contact, 12th in yards per rush after contact, and fifth in rushing success rate.
SONIC GOES 70 YARDS 🦔
📺: #TENvsDET on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/k5uU2eWy7t— NFL (@NFL) October 27, 2024
This is on top of a passing offense that is league-average in pressure rate allowed, has the sixth-quickest time to throw, and ranks third in EPA on scripted drives.
SportfolioKings has a drive-level statistic called EDP (earned drive points) that offers a new approach to analyzing performance by focusing on the sustainability of drives rather than final outcomes. Unlike EPA, which measures play-level results in a backward-looking frame of reference, Drive Quality isolates the true value of a drive, providing a more predictive, process-focused view of team performance on each drive.
Using this, we can gather information on how teams perform in certain situations. The Lions and the Baltimore Ravens are the only two offenses to be in the top five in EDP on both scripted and non-scripted plays. The Texans’ defense ranks ninth in EDP on scripted plays and fourth on non-scripted plays.
The Texans’ defense is 14th in pressure generated and blitzes at the third-highest rate in the league. Detroit’s offense ranks 11th when pressured and first by a wide margin when blitzed. While the Texans only rank 15th in defensive rush EPA, they prevent a successful rush on 67% of their opponents’ plays, which ranks third in the league.
The Texans are a really good football team, and I believe they will figure it out on offense once everyone is healthy. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to stop the Lions’ offense, and the Texans need to figure out their early-down situation.