Former Houston Texans coach Bill O’Brien may have lost the team after the club’s 33-16 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 2.
According to Dianna Russini of ESPN, the offense was frustrated with the lack of production through the first two weeks, even resulting in what Russini referred to as a “verbal blowup” in practice.
In the Ravens game, the Texans’ offense managed 304 yards of total offense. Quarterback Deshaun Watson completed 25-of-36 for 275 yards, but the production wasn’t there in terms of points with just one touchdown and an interception. The run game was anemic with 11 carries for 34 yards from running back David Johnson, and just five carries for 17 yards from Watson.
I spoke with sources in Houston and they tell me two weeks ago is when it really started to fall apart. One source said “that’s when OB lost the team”
The offense was beyond frustrated and it even turned into a verbal blowup at practice. #Texans— Dianna Russini (@diannaESPN) October 5, 2020
One of the more puzzling decisions from the loss that sent Houston to 0-2 on the season for the third time in the O’Brien era was his decision to go for it on fourth-and-1 from the Houston 34-yard line with two seconds left in the first quarter. Instead of punting, O’Brien wanted to steal a possession. Instead, Watson threw an incomplete pass off the heels of tight end Darren Fells.
“We had a 4-and-one early in the game and then the game was changed a little bit,” O’Brien explained. “We punted that one and then they went down and kicked a field goal, but they possessed the ball. So again, we felt like we needed possessions in the game, so we decided to go for it. We put a play out there, they called timeout, we changed the play. The play didn’t work and so we didn’t convert it. But that’s just the way it works. They did a better job than us on that and we just need to work hard to improve.”
The Texans will have to find a way to improve their 0-4 record as O’Brien was dismissed Monday following 100 regular season games with the club, compiling a 52-48 record along with a 2-4 mark in the playoffs.
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