The Houston Texans fired Bill O’Brien on Oct. 5, 2020, but they should have gotten a head-start on Jan. 12.
A year ago today, as this article is published, the Texans lost 51-31 to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC divisional playoffs.
As far as data analysis goes, the final score doesn’t look so bad. After all, the Texans aimed to upset the No. 2 seed in the AFC, which is kind of a difficult task to unseat a team that has attained a first-round bye.
However, a full spectrum analysis of the game reveals Houston held a 24-0 lead with 10:00 to go in the second quarter. Even if the Chiefs ultimately ignited their offense, Houston had enough of a cushion to absorb Kansas City’s blows while protecting their lead.
Kansas City scored on their eight next drives, amassing the 51 points necessary with 8:06 to play. The Texans only points during the Chiefs’ storm was a 5-yard Deshaun Watson touchdown with 41 seconds to go in the third quarter.
The Texans wasted an opportunity to host the AFC Championship Game at NRG Stadium the next week. Of course, it would have been a tough matchup facing the Tennessee Titans, who had just upset the No. 1 seed Baltimore Ravens. Nonetheless, it was an opportunity wasted as that achievement would have catapulted the Texans into another level as a franchise.
Chairman and CEO Cal McNair rewarded O’Brien for his efforts in 2019. Instead of seeing how the team fell short, blowing a 24-point lead in the playoffs, McNair decided to give O’Brien even more power as general manager, a role vacant since the firing of Brian Gaine on June 7, 2019.
“I was encouraged by the progress that our team made on the field this year which was due in part to our new structure, operating approach and the leaders within our football operations group,” McNair said in a statement on Jan. 28, 2020. “I am proud that we provided our fans with many thrilling victories at home, including a playoff win, and we delivered another double-digit win season. Our fans deserve that, but now it is time for the organization to get back to work toward our pursuit of a world championship for the city of Houston.”
Instead of seeing where the Texans failed, McNair dwelled on where Houston succeeded, adding another wild-card playoff win in a 22-19 win over the Buffalo Bills in overtime at NRG Stadium. The problem was Houston proved in 2011, 2012, and 2016 they could get out of the wild-card round; they have yet to prove they can get out of the divisional round, or even capture a first-round bye.
After making questionable trades throughout the offseason, and facing the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, O’Brien led the Texans to an 0-4 start. McNair fired O’Brien on Oct. 5, 2020, promoting Romeo Crennel as interim coach.
“I want to see our guys having fun,” McNair told Texans Radio Network play-by-play Marc Vandermeer on Oct. 7, 2020. “I want to see the defense flying around. I want to put the ‘Rock Boy’ band back together. I want them to play their songs. I want Justin Reid to take a pick back 99 yards. I want to see Deshaun [Watson] playing an air guitar and he’s got a great dance in the end zone my wife really likes to see. And these are things I want to get back to. I want to get back to having fun.”
Houston had fun all the way to a 4-12 finish, third place in the AFC South, and searching for a new coach and new general manager.
The Texans could have gotten a head-start to fixing the problems that ail the franchise if they would have fired O’Brien after the loss to the Chiefs instead of handing him even more power. As a result, the Texans don’t have a locker room leader in three-time All-Pro DeAndre Hopkins, and suffered in the interior of their defensive line with the departure of defensive tackle D.J. Reader. Instead, McNair sent the message that collapsing isn’t that big a deal.
