Tag: DeAndre Hopkins

Texans WR DeAndre Hopkins wants new officiating leadership after pass interference no-call

Houston Texans WR DeAndre Hopkins says there needs to be new leadership in officiating following missed pass interference versus the Baltimore Ravens.

Houston Texans receiver DeAndre Hopkins says there needs to be new leadership in officiating following the club’s 41-7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens Sunday afternoon at M&T Bank Stadium.

On a fourth-and-2 from the Ravens’ 33-yard line with 5:56 to go in the first quarter, quarterback Deshaun Watson heaved a deep ball into the right corner of the end zone that fell incomplete as Hopkins was unable to reach the football. Cornerback Marlon Humphrey hung on to Hopkins and made it difficult to haul in the catch.

After the loss, Hopkins retweeted pictures from ESPN Sportscenter’s official account with images of the alleged missed infraction.

“As a leader in the NFL, we need someone new in New York deciding calls,” Hopkins wrote.

The crew for the game was headed up by referee Alex Kemp. When coach Bill O’Brien challenged for possible pass interference, the call went to NFL senior vice president of officiating Alberto Riveron, who makes all the determinations on challenges and booth reviews. Ultimately, Riveron decided there was no pass interference, and it was a turnover on downs.

Criticism of officials often times leads to a fine from the league. It will be interesting to see if there is a FedEx envelope from the league in Hopkins’ locker this week.

Texans QB Deshaun Watson says ‘everyone’ saw pass interference against WR DeAndre Hopkins

Houston Texans QB Deshaun Watson says the alleged pass interference against WR DeAndre Hopkins in the Baltimore Ravens loss was obvious.

The Houston Texans lost to the Baltimore Ravens 41-7 Sunday afternoon at M&T Bank Stadium. The game may have had a different tenor overall if not for one big missed call.

On a fourth-and-2 from the Ravens’ 33-yard line in a scoreless first quarter, quarterback Deshaun Watson scrambled away from Baltimore defenders and threw an end zone shot to receiver DeAndre Hopkins. Cornerback Marlon Humphrey tackled Hopkins prior to the ball’s arrival, possibly defensive pass interference which would have setup Houston first-and-goal at the 1-yard line.

Instead, referee Alex Kemp’s crew made no call on the field, and it was a turnover on downs.

Coach Bill O’Brien challenged, but New York ruled the no-call on the field stood.

“I mean, everyone saw it,” Watson told reporters after the game. “The guy wrapped him around, but they made that call and you got to live with it. You can’t really dwell on it.”

O’Brien was passive-aggressive with his comments in his postgame presser.

“I have no idea,” O’Brien said. “I have no idea what pass interference is anymore. No idea.”

The Texans gave up two touchdowns in the second quarter and suffered a missed field goal from Ka’imi Fairbairn that would have made it 14-3 at halftime.

If the Texans could have taken an early 7-0 lead over Baltimore, it could have been a more of a slugfest than a curb stomp on Russell Street by the Ravens.

“It definitely could have been a changing point of the game, momentum switch,” said Watson. “But it’s just one of those calls that it didn’t go our way and we just got to continue to push forward.”

Watson completed 18-of-29 for 169 yards and an interception along with losing a fumble and taking six sacks. The Pro Bowl quarterback finished with a 63.7 passer rating, the fourth-lowest of his career.

Texans cheated out of obvious pass interference call as officials refuse to overturn

NFL officials again make it clear they don’t like new review rule by refusing to penalize Baltimore Ravens’ Marlon Humphrey on obvious play.

With 5:56 left in the first quarter of the critical AFC matchup between the 7-2 Ravens and the 6-3 Texans, Houston quarterback Deshaun Watson uncorked a deep pass to receiver DeAndre Hopkins down the right side of the field toward the end zone. Hopkins was covered by Baltimore cornerback Marlon Humphrey, one of the NFL’s best defensive backs. However, on this play, Humphrey was outmatched by Hopkins’ size/speed combination, as many defenders have been throughout Hopkins’ career.

The result was what looked like obvious pass interference to prevent a touchdown.

Obvious, perhaps — but not so to referee Alex Kemp and his crew. Pass interference was not called, despite the fact that Humphrey’s hands were all over Hopkins, he pushed Hopkins as the ball was coming in, and he wasn’t playing the ball anywhere near the catch point.

Texans coach Bill O’Brien challenged the non-call, under the first-year rule that allows coaches to challenge pass interference calls and non-calls. However, O’Brien probably knew how this was going to go. The NFL’s head offices in New York have rarely agreed to overturn such calls and non-calls. Per NFL Research, through the first nine weeks of the season, there were 53 challenges, with five calls or non-calls overturned. That’s a 90.6% failure rate for coaches, and coaches should be able to expect a more consistent reading of the rules before and after the fact.

In a major game that could decide the top of the AFC’s postseason order, the NFL has once again refused to do its job regarding a rule that was passed by the competition committee. If NFL Senior Vice President of Officiating Al Riveron and his staff are unhappy about their officials being called into question by this new review rule, the time to make that clear was during league meetings. This smacks of collusion in the officiating community, and it’s a very bad look for the NFL.

After the game, Hopkins made his opinion clear.

Touchdown Wire editor Doug Farrar has also covered football for Yahoo! Sports, Sports Illustrated, Bleacher Report, the Washington Post, and Football Outsiders. His first book, “The Genius of Desperation,” a schematic history of professional football, was published by Triumph Books in 2018 and won the Professional Football Researchers Association’s Nelson Ross Award for “Outstanding recent achievement in pro football research and historiography.”

Twitter blows up over Texans WR DeAndre Hopkins not drawing pass interference against the Ravens

Twitter was not pleased with the refs not calling pass interference on the Baltimore Ravens for interfering with Houston Texans WR DeAndre Hopkins.

On a fourth-and-2 from the Baltimore Ravens’ 33-yard line, Houston Texans coach Bill O’Brien decided to go for it. Quarterback Deshaun Watson dropped back and pulled the trigger for the deep ball to receiver DeAndre Hopkins.

Ostensibly, Hopkins could have made the play, but Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey tackled Hopkins before he could even have a chance to get his hands on the ball.

As a result of the no-call by referee Alex Kemp’s crew, there was considerable Twitter backlash.

Maybe it wasn’t so much the alleged interference from Humphrey as it was the decision by New York to not overturn the no-call on the field and call pass interference after O’Brien challenged.

 

 

Even former Ravens safety Eric Weddle opined that the decision to not overturn the call was highly questionable.

 

 

 

Ultimately, with just five overturned decisions on the field relative to pass interference, the league seems to be sending a message with the new rule to challenge pass interference.

4 ‘musts’ for the Texans to beat the Ravens in Week 11

The Baltimore Ravens present a tough-task for the Houston Texans on Sunday. The Texans can beat them by accomplishing these four musts.

In 2019, the Houston Texans have participated in their fair share of thrillers. Sunday’s AFC showdown with the Baltimore Ravens is presumed to be yet another addition to the stock-full cabinet of Texans thrillers. This time, with Houston coming in as underdogs.

The 7-2 Ravens, led by MVP candidate Lamar Jackson, sports star-level talent on both sides of the ball. The flock are favorites to win against the 6-3 Texans, led by fellow MVP candidate Deshaun Watson. Houston can change the course if they accomplish these four “musts.”

1. Play disciplined football

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(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

The ultimate cliché in football: play disciplined defense. While resorting to a cliché maybe unoriginal, it’s true; the Texans must play with sound gap-control, keep their eyes on the ball, set the edge consistently, wrap-up with their tackles and, most importantly, know what No. 8 is up to.

Sounds like playing good defense, huh?

Pretty much.

The Lamar Jackson-led Ravens are a triple-threat on offense. They can dink-and-dunk down the field with RPOs and play-action, run at will with Jackson and Mark Ingram and, with the previous two in-account, give defenses trouble with the threat of Jackson’s legs and his arm talent.

Baltimore is a nightmare to defend. There has yet to be a defense that can contain and Jackson and Co. for an entire game. Playing like a well-coached front-seven would undoubtedly help.

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Ravens coach John Harbaugh doesn’t see a hole in Texans WR DeAndre Hopkins’ game

Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh gives his scouting report on Houston Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins.

Very few wide receivers give defenses as many fits as DeAndre Hopkins does. A back-to-back All-Pro for the Houston Texans, Hopkins has the attention of whoever he plays. The Baltimore Ravens are no exception to the rule.

Hopkins, who is second in the NFL in catches (68), presents the Ravens defense that Baltimore coach John Harbaugh won’t undersell.

“Everybody is on the same page, but number 10 (Hopkins) is one of the best, if not the best, in the league,” said coach Harbaugh on a Wednesday conference call. “He’s right there.”

On the season, Hopkins has 68 receptions for 665 yards and four touchdowns. Recently, he has seen an uptick in targets, receiving at least 11 in his last four outings, as compared to one instance of 11+ in his first five.

In his previous three games against Baltimore combined, Hopkins has tallied 18 receptions for 223 yards. He has yet to face the Ravens with Deshaun Watson taking snaps.

Known for his physicality, Hopkins is often described as a nightmare to defend on the line of scrimmage. He boxes as if he were Mike Tyson to beat cornerbacks. His large catch radius, chemistry with Deshaun Watson and experience rounds out a full-fledged force.

“He’s really tough to cover, he bodies people up, he’s got great body control, he’s got great hands, he’s very strong, excellent after the catch,” continued Harbaugh. “I don’t see one hole in his game, and that’s what we’re confronted with and we’re going to try to do our best against him.”

Though the Ravens boast defensive secondary playmakers, Hopkins could be in-line for a big game against the coach that praises him. Baltimore is 22nd in the NFL in wide receiver catches (125) and yards allowed (1,654).

Harbaugh is prepared to face Hopkins. He has the scouting report. However, on Sundays, a scouting report will only get a team so far.

How much of a fit would Colin Kaepernick be for the Texans?

Free agent QB Colin Kaepernick is having a tryout open to all 32 NFL teams. How much of a fit would he be for the Houston Texans?

Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick is having a workout Saturday for all 32 NFL teams.

USA TODAY’s Nate Davis power ranked all 32 teams and their likelihood that they would be interested in Kaepernick. Davis has the Texans at No. 8.

Would you rather have Kaepernick and his skill set behind Deshaun Watson or roll with AJ McCarron? From an organizational standpoint, this would have been unthinkable a year ago, but the acquisition of [Kenny] Stills says a lot about the current top-down mind-set.

One advocate Kaepernick would have in the Texans locker room is All-Pro receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who wore a Kaepernick jersey upon arriving to NRG Stadium for a Texans game on Dec. 2, 2018. Hopkins also said in a recent GQ interview that he was upset with the organization for not giving Kaepernick a workout when sensational rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson went down with a torn ACL on Nov. 2, 2017.

Coach Bill O’Brien wouldn’t get into whether or not the club was going to send a representative to Kaepernick’s workout in Atlanta.

“I’ll tell you right now, I’m very focused on Baltimore and I would never talk about anything that’s relating to scouting or personnel, anything like that,” O’Brien told reporters Wednesday. “So, I’ll just tell you, I’m very — like I said to you the other day, if you put the Baltimore film on, we’ve got a lot to work on. We have a challenging game, so we’re very focused on Baltimore.”

Kaepernick has not played a down of football since Jan. 1, 2017, when he started for the 49ers in a Week 17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks at Levi’s Stadium. Kaepernick completed 17-of-22 passing for 215 yards and a touchdown while taking five sacks. The loss sealed Kaepernick’s record as 1-10 for 2016 and left his career record at 28-30 and a career playoff record of 4-2.

WR DeAndre Hopkins is a leader for younger Texans players

Houston Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins may not be the most vocal player playing his position, but he is a leader for the team.

DeAndre Hopkins lets his actions do the talking. Never one to create a frenzy out of thin air, the Houston Texans wideout hailing from South Carolina rarely enters conversations for the words that come out of his mouth.

Though silent playing a position that is anything but mute, Hopkins is a leader for the Texans. Specifically, those younger players hoping to share the field with him snap-to-snap.

“Hop’s a really good teammate. I think he does a good job with the younger players. I think he’s very football smart,” said coach Bill O’Brien on Wednesday. “He’s played a lot of football, he’s got a lot of experience versus a lot of different coverages, a lot of different corners, so he can help a younger player relative to what the look might be.”

Hopkins, 27, is in his seventh year in the NFL. During those seven seasons, he has racked up 596 receptions, 8,102 yards and 51 touchdowns. He has missed just one game in his career, starting all 104 others.

Hopkins, otherwise known as “Nuk,” knows football. If he can share the knowledge that he has picked up over the years, he will do just that. As stated multiple times, the only goal of his is to win; progressing his teammates’ knowledge only helps achieve that goal.

“He helps even the running backs when they’re out there with him in the formation, ‘hey, this is what it might be, this is what it might be.’ So, I think he just does a good job of communicating all of his knowledge based on how much he’s played,” O’Brien said. “He’s been a successful player, but he’s successful for a lot of reasons, and one of him is his football savviness, his ability to understand what’s going on X’s and O’s wise.”

On Sunday, Texans-Ravens spectators may not see Hopkins chat as much as other receivers. When he does, however, it’s for a good reason.

4 Texans worthy of making the Pro Bowl

With the Pro-Bowl voting underway, here are four Houston Texans deserving of going to the All-Star Game in the winter, including Deshaun Watson.

Pro Bowl voting is live. In the thick of a tight AFC playoff race, the Houston Texans have their fair share of players worthy of heading to Orlando, Fla. on Jan. 26, 2020.

Four, in specific, stand-out as obvious Pro-Bowl selections. To get them there, Texans fans will be relied upon. They can do so by heading to NFL.com/ProBowlVote to cast their ballots. Voting ends on Dec. 12, it is free and encouraged that multiple ballots are sent in.

During the final two weeks of voting — Nov. 28 to Dec. 12 — fans will be able to vote for their favorite Texans on Twitter. They will be able to do so by tweeting the player’s first and last name, the player’s official handle or a hashtag including their first and last name. All three methods must include the #ProBowlVote hashtag.

When making voting, here are four Texans to keep in mind for Pro Bowl voting:

QB Deshaun Watson

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Deshaun Watson is a full-fledged MVP candidate. His name on the Pro Bowl roster won’t be surprising come January. In fact, come game time in Orlando, Fla., the only thing that would be surprising is not seeing Watson suited up — unless he is in Miami.

Watson is drilling passes at a 70.2% clip, has a career-high 107.1 passer rating, has upped his passing touchdown rate from 5.1% to 6.0% (18) and lowered his interception rate from 1.8% to 1.7%. He has done so while throwing for 2,432 yards, rushing for 279 and tallying five touchdowns on the ground.

If stats don’t do the trick, take a gander at NFL Twitter on Sundays. Seemingly every week, Watson is producing highlight reels with his magical abilities. Combine that with a winning record (6-3), statistical improvement and a broad fan base and Watson is seemingly a lock to make the Pro-Bowl in back-to-back years.

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Texans’ DeAndre Hopkins doesn’t care about the next receiving record he is set to break

Houston Texans All-Pro wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins is on-pace to break yet another record. However, he could care less.

Houston Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins is no stranger to the record books. A two-time All-Pro with only one missed game in his seven-year career, the wide-out, otherwise known as “Nuk,” continues to climb receiving statistics leaderboards.

Hopkins can put his name back in the record books on Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens. With four more receptions, he would be the second-youngest player (27 years, 164 days) in NFL history to reach 600 receptions (behind Larry Fitzgerald).

Unless Houston wins, Hopkins couldn’t care about the record. Sharing a list with Fitzgerald is nice for him, but he doesn’t play for statistics — unless it’s doubling what he currently has; a monumental feat.

“That’s dope. That’s cool. Definitely going to keep that football, only if we win,” Hopkins told reporters Monday. “But no, winning is really the most important thing to me. But to be up there with people like Larry Fitzgerald, that’s not bad. That’s not bad at all. That’s pretty cool. The only thing better than [600] is [600] more, so hopefully I can be the first to do that.”

On the season, Hopkins has 68 receptions for 665 yards and four touchdowns. He is on pace to break his career-high for receptions in a season (115) with 121. Unless the 6-3 Texans win, however, he won’t be one to mention that number.

Hopkins was raised to win, not to look at his numbers. In his eyes, if he is not a champion, those accomplishments don’t mean anything.

Said Hopkins: “I honestly don’t think about the accomplishments. That’s not the way I was raised. I was raised that you’re either a champion or you’re not a champion. So, anything else is really disappointing to me personally because I love winning.”

Until Hopkins gets that coveted Super Bowl ring that he is in pursuit of, don’t expect the quiet 27-year-old to discuss his resumé.