Houston Texans receiver DeAndre Carter produced two catches for 44 yards in the team’s 23-20 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Saturday at Raymond James Stadium, but maybe he should have had a yard more.
On a third-and-6 from the Texans’ 44-yard line, Carter caught a 5-yard pass that was short of the line to gain. Though it was outside two minutes and the Texans had a challenge to spare, and replay seemed to confirm Carter had crossed the 50-yard line to convert, coach Bill O’Brien decided against throwing the challenge flag.
“I did, but, you know, very few of those things get overturned,” O’Brien told reporters after the game. “So, then, and the official said that he went backwards on his own. I didn’t agree with that, but as soon as he said that, I knew that’s probably what he was hearing from New York. So, I said that probably wouldn’t be smart to challenge.”
O’Brien had won a challenge earlier in the ballgame over a receiver Breshad Perriman catch that the Texans claimed he stepped out of bounds before possessing the ball. On the season, O’Brien had not won a challenge in six tries coming into Week 16.
The referee for the game, rookie Scott Novak, entered Week 16 with the third-highest challenge overturn rate in the NFL at .500 (6-of-12).