The Houston Texans had a fourth-and-2 from the Green Bay Packers’ 19-yard line in the first quarter of Saturday night’s eventual 26-7 preseason win at Lambeau Field.
Instead of going for it, the Texans sent kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn out for a 37-yard field goal, which gave them an early 3-0 lead with 7:48 in the first quarter.
If coach David Culley had to do it over again, he would have gone for it.
“When it was third down and 2, we had two plays right there. [Offensive coordinator] Tim (Kelly) knew we had two plays, but we didn’t get any yards there,” Culley said. “And then when we didn’t get any yards, we didn’t get in a situation where we had a fourth-and-1; we decided to get the kick. And we kicked it.”
The third-and-1 call from the 18-yard line was a run up the middle from running back David Johnson, but he lost a yard and setup a fourth-and-2.
Houston had another fourth down across the 50-yard line into Packers territory in the first half. The Texans were fourth-and-12 from Green Bay’s 40-yard line. Cameron Johnston came out for a 28-yard punt.
“The next time when we got in that situation, any time we are down across the 50 and we’ve got an opportunity to be able to stay on the field in that particular situation, we’re going to put it on our out-front people and we’re going to give them the opportunity to get the first down in those situations,” said Culley.
The Texans may get just the chance on Aug. 21 when they take on the Dallas Cowboys for the second preseason game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.