The Houston Texans announced a decision on Friday afternoon that could have huge ramifications for a Chicago Bears with a rookie quarterback under center. Caleb Williams is set to make his first road trip in the NFL on Sunday night
The Texans play their home games at NRG Stadium, a facility that seats 72,220 fans. Fans in Houston are excited about their Week 2 matchup against the Bears, as the Texans made the playoffs in CJ Stroud’s rookie season last year. They’re 1-0 after a Week 1 win over the Indianapolis Colts, and there are high expectations this season for the Texans nationally.
NRG Stadium has a retractable roof
NRG Stadium was the first NFL stadium to have a retractable roof. Per a 2021 article by KHOU 11, the Texans rarely open the roof for league games. The Texans like to keep the roof closed because they believe the hometown crowd noise can give them an advantage over the road team.
The Texans won’t have that crowd noise bouncing off the roof on Sunday against the Bears.
According to Aaron Wilson with KPRC, the Texans plan to have the roof open on Sunday night.
The stadium for the Houston Texans was damaged in a hurricane
Per an August article by Wilson, NRG Stadium had multiple roof panels damaged by Hurricane Beryl in July. Texans principal owner Cal McNair said the stadium needs special-made panels to fix the roof, and it would be a while before NRG Stadium was fully repaired.
“The studies on that are ongoing, and we’ll learn more as we kind of work through it,” McNair said. “There are several panels that were damaged. These things aren’t on your local shelf at the do-it-yourself Home Depot. Wonderful stores that are around. They’re special-ordered, specially-made, so it’ll take a while. We’re hopeful that we’ll get them about a month into the season.”
The Texans hope to have the roof fixed by their Week 4 home game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. In the meantime, the Texans can choose to keep the roof open or closed.
The subject of roofed stadiums and Chicago teams can be a sore subject for Houston fans. The MLB forced the Astros to open the roof at Minute Maid Park during the 2005 World Series. The White Sox would seep the Astros 4-0 in the series. Astros fans cry about crowd noise being a factor in that series to this day.
The Chicago Bears need to take advantage of a quieter crowd
It would appear as though the Texans would prefer not to show a roof with missing panels during their nationally televised primetime matchup with the Bears on NBC Sunday night.
Less crowd noise is exactly what the doctor ordered for Williams and the Bears in Week 2. Williams will now have an easier time hearing plays called in his headset, relaying those plays to his teammates, and setting protections at the line of scrimmage before taking a snap against a stiff Texans defense.
Related: Bears rule out two players for Sunday night’s game
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