Houston Texans receiver Will Fuller thought he caught a key touchdown pass that would have helped tie the game against the Minnesota Vikings Sunday afternoon at NRG Stadium.
After a booth review, the ruling on the field of a 5-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-goal was overturned. The pass was called incomplete, and the Texans lost 31-23 after the Vikings ran out the clock.
“I 100% felt like I caught the ball,” Fuller said. “Watching the replay when I hit the ground the ball moved a little bit, but I felt like I kept my hand underneath the ball.”
Quarterback Deshaun Watson also initially thought that Fuller maintained enough possession to allow the Texans to have a chance to tie the game pending a two-point conversion.
“We thought that Will had his hand underneath and of course the ball moved a little bit, but we didn’t think that the whole ball was touching the ground,” said Watson. “We knew if we had control, at least with one hand, the tip of the ball could hit the ground, but New York made their call and that’s what they made.”
Coach Bill O’Brien got an explanation from referee Brad Rogers on the sequence that led to the league office overturning the catch.
“They said that the ball moved when Will caught the ball, but when it hit the ground the ball moved and then the option, the way that they were playing our three by one formation, we felt like we could run that play, and it just didn’t work out,” O’Brien said.
One of the adages of football is to “control what you can control,” and that is what Fuller’s takeaway is after the incomplete pass.
“I just have to find a way to catch that without it going back upstairs,” Fuller said. “So, I just have to find a way to make that happen.”
The Texans fall to 0-4 on the year. Houston will need to find a myriad of ways to make a multiplicity of things to happen if they seek to get off the schneid.