The Houston Texans had a second-and-goal from the 4-yard line down 26-20 to the Indianapolis Colts Sunday afternoon at NRG Stadium.
With the Colts having called all of their timeouts and the Texans having their last one in their back pocket, Houston was in prime position to take the lead.
However, a low shotgun snap from center Nick Martin proved devastating as quarterback Deshaun Watson was unable to get on the football. Linebacker Anthony Walker did to secure a Colts victory.
What were the Texans going to do if not for the botched exchange?
“It was a zone-read play,” Watson said. “We were going back and forth if we were going to pass it or not. We didn’t want to leave too much time for the Colts’ offense, so we were trying to at least run it. If we run it in, then we run it in, but if not, the clock is going to continue to run.”
Running back David Johnson was to the right of Watson in the zone-read formation.
“I mean, I should have just caught the ball,” said Watson, who completed 26-of-38 for 341 yards and an interception. “I know it was a little low and hot, but for me, I take big pride in just catching every snap, regardless of where it is and how fast it is.”
Watson says that there was enough room for Johnson to have possibly scored given the convergence on the quarterback the Colts displayed after the snap.
wowowowowowow
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— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) December 6, 2020
Said Watson: “I was going to read it in, but they were all gunning for me, so it would have been probably a positive play hopefully, and yeah.”
Instead the Colts got the football and the victory. At 4-8, Houston has four games to go and needing tons of help from the rest of the league to keep their playoff hopes alive.