Does Texans playoff beatdown put Bill O’Brien on the hot seat?

As the third seed in the AFC playoffs, the Texans had high hopes. The Texans were expected to at least advance to the division playoffs, beating their wild-card opponent. When it was known that the Colts would play the Texans in Houston, fans were worried. Although the Texans had a 1-1 record against the Colts through regular season play, the Colts were fire hot and were very healthy. However, the Texans lost two of their receivers in Demaryius Thomas and Will Fuller and went 2-2 after their 9 game win streak. The Colts clearly had an edge with their healthy roster and a lot of momentum.

The Colts did, eventually, have an edge Saturday afternoon. The Colts controlled the ball well, playing well on offense and defense. They stymied the Texans in every manner. The Colts were dominant in the first half. The Colts did not punt at all in the first half, scoring a touchdown on every drive but one. The Texans, however, mustered a little bit of offense. In addition, DeAndre Hopkins hurt his shoulder during the first half as well. The second half seemed promising for the Texans as Deshaun Watson threw a touchdown pass and fans expected a comeback. However, Watson threw it all away after under throwing a pass on fourth down.

The game was dismal and although some players made unforgivable mistakes, most fingers should point at Bill O’Brien. O’Brien is at blame for such a terrible loss. He had no answer on offense, even when Romeo Crennel’s squad forced turnovers. The defense could only do so much. Being the third meeting between the two squads, O’Brien should have been knowledgeable about the Colts game plan. However, he was absolutely clueless as was evident in the poor offensive performance by the Texans.

Due to the Texans uninspiring performance on Saturday, many pundits and fans have suggested that Bill O’Brien should be on the hot seat and possibly fired if he does not have a successful season in 2019. However, this statement is completely unwarranted. Many fans are quick to forget Bill O’Brien’s effort to bring the team back from a 0-3 start to finishing the season with 11 wins. O’Brien was coaching well this entire season. Although the Texans fanbase is disappointed with O’Brien from the wild-card loss, it is too far as to suggest firing O’Brien.

In addition, fans do not realize the factors that went against the Texans which led to this poor performance. Firstly, the Texans did not have healthy receivers. Demaryius Thomas and Will Fuller both did not play and DeAndre Hopkins was held to minimal gains and suffered a Grade 3 AC Sprain after the first half. This injury to Hopkins greatly prevented the Texans’ offense from performing to their best standards. In addition, as all pundits say, the Texans had a terrible offensive line. They allowed 3 sacks for a total of 18 yards for loss. It was difficult for the Texans to use their running game due to their poor offensive line. In addition, Deshaun Watson was forced to pass in numerous situations due to the inability of the Texans offensive line to stop the Colts’ linemen.

Although this loss was unacceptable and there is no doubt that Bill O’Brien needs to coach better, it should not lead to his firing.