Lions Week 10 preview: Breaking down Texans’ offensive, defensive schemes

The Detroit Lions (7-1) will take on the Houston Texans (6-3) in Week 10 of the 2024 regular season. The Texans retained their head coach and coordinators from 2023, but because they play in the AFC, the Lions haven’t seen this staff work together as a group.

Let’s take a look at the Texans' coaching staff and how their offensive and defensive schemes operate.

Texans head coach: DeMeco Ryans

Drafted by the Texans in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft out of Alabama, Ryan was a dynamic pass rushing linebacker who would go on to earn a plethora of awards, including Defensive Rookie of the Year, two Pro Bowls, and an All-Pro nomination. After seven years in Houston he would shift to the Eagles to close out his career, before joining the coaching ranks just two years later.

Ryans’ rise through the coaching ranks developed at a rapid pace. He joined the San Francisco 49ers in 2017 as a defensive quality control coach, working under head coach Kyle Shanahan and defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. He took over the linebackers in 2018, was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2021, and by 2023 he was the head coach of the Texans.

Offensive coordinator: Bobby Slowik

Slowik, a Michigan Tech graduate, got his NFL break into coaching with Washington in 2011 as a defensive assistant under coach Mike Shanahan. Slowik briefly left coaching in 2014 to join PFF as a senior analyst but was recruited by Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco in 2017. Slowik was hired by the 49ers the same year as Ryans and worked literally alongside him for two seasons as a defensive quality control coach. In 2019, he switched to the offensive side of the ball and worked his way up the ranks, eventually becoming the 49ers passing game coordinator in 2022, before exiting for Houston with Ryans in 2023.

Shanahan West Coast offensive scheme

With both Ryans and Slowik descending from the tree of Shanahan, it’s not surprising to see the Texans offense resemble this popular scheme. In this season alone, the Lions have seen variations of the Shanahan scheme when they faced the Rams, Buccaneers, Vikings, Titans (indirectly), and Packers. But like all of the teams running variations of this scheme, Slowik has put his own spin on things.

The Texans run out of 11 personnel 60% of the time, followed by 12 personnel 35% of the time, leaving little room for variance beyond those two looks. Pre-snap motion is prevalent, as are bunch and spread wide receiver sets, and a quick uncovering route tree combined with a desire to hit the deep ball are all staples. In the run game, they lean on a lot of outside zone concepts, and while they’ll show gap looks, they tend to use the pulling guard as a decoy to hold the linebackers and then try to pass behind them.

Despite a talented roster, the Texans offense is struggling, especially of late. Some have pointed to Slowik’s large playbook taking time to consume, as the full Shanahan playbook can take 2-3 years to install properly. Others have pointed to Slowik’s lack of experience, as he is only halfway into his second season as an OC and play-caller.

If I were to point to a glaring flaw in Slowik’s approach, it would be light use of play-action. The Texans use play-action just 20.8% of the time (23rd in the NFL) and in the games I watched it was even less. The Texans simply aren’t fooling linebackers, who flow to the ball against the Texans. As a result, stretch plays in their outside zone scheme tend to be less than effective and their running game has only found life behind Joe Mixon’s ability to find the cutback lane, bounce to an unset edge, and use power to gain yards after contact.

One of the reasons the Texans may use less play-action is because they don’t trust their interior offensive line to hold up. Here’s a look at a few condemning analytics:

running backs are contacted within 1.3 yards of the line of scrimmage (22nd)

stuffed rate (runs stopped at or behind the line of scrimmage) is 21.5% (31st)

allowed pressure on 41.3% of dropbacks (30th)

allowed 31 sacks (31st)

allowed 151 pressures per Next Gen Stats (worst in the NFL)

The Texans have found ways to generate yardage on offense behind an intelligent/mobile quarterback in C.J. Stroud and a deep and talented roster of skill players. But they’re an average to below-average when it comes to results. The Texans land between No. 15 and No. 25 in yards per play, yards after catch/contact, touchdowns scored, EPA (both run and pass), and all three offensive DVOA categories.

Defensive coordinator: Matt Burke

Burke has been coaching football since the late 1990s and joined the NFL ranks with the Titans in 2004. In all, Burke has had a well-rounded career, playing safety (Dartmouth), working as a linebackers coach (Lions from 2009-13 under Jim Schwartz, Bengals), a defensive line coach (Cardinals), in defensive advisory roles (Eagles, Jets), and as a defensive coordinator (Dolphins 2017-18, Texans 2023-present).

Ryan’s 4-2-5 base defensive scheme

While Burke calls the plays on game day, this defense is based on the one Ryans ran in San Francisco and will look very familiar to what the Lions saw last week against the Packers, with a few adaptations due to Houston’s personnel.

The Texans run a one-gapping 4-2-5 base defense that is pressure-based and often results in defensive linemen ending up in the opponents' backfield. They stay in nickel sets roughly 85% of the time (often more), running 70% zone coverage and 26% man coverage, always working to keep the play in front of them. Their linebackers are frequently asked to drop into coverage, and they will blitz a ton on third downs. Like most Shanahan-influenced defenses, the Texans prefer to rush four, but they have dialed up the blitz more in 2024. Last season, Houston blitzed around 20% of the time (pretty standard for the scheme), but this season they’re blitzing 33.4% of the time, fifth most in the NFL.

While the secondary is loaded up with Day 1 and 2 draft picks, the Texans have invested a lot of their recent free agent financial assets along the defensive line. Ryans has repeatedly stressed the importance of having an elite defensive line and his edge rushers are producing at league-high levels.

Per Next Gen Stats, the Texans have produced 137 pressures through nine games (most in the NFL), with a pressure rate of 42% (second), resulting in 29 sacks (fourth), and a stuff rate of 19.8% (fifth). Left defensive end, Danielle Hunter is leading the NFL in pressures with 57 (per Next Gen Stats), while right defensive end Will Anderson has 40 pressures on the season (fourth). The challenge for Houston this week will be the power-on-power matchup between Hunter and Penei Sewell, and injuries to Anderson and primary backup Derek Barnett.

The Texans apply a ton of stress on offenses, but they also have two flaws in their approach that the Lions can take advantage of—and they both start with the Lions' No. 1 ranked offensive line.

First, if the offensive line can clear holes or use the Texans’ aggressiveness against them, running backs can make it past the initial wave and then there’s daylight to run to. Heading into this game, Houston is allowing 3.45 yards after contact (30th) and have given up 35 runs of 10+ yards (28th). Second, if the offensive line can hold up in pass pro (and pick up the blitz when necessary), there are open windows to attack. The Texans have allowed an NFL-high 19 passing touchdowns this season, and when teams get into the red zone, opponents score on nearly 70% of trips (30th).

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