Texans coach Bill O’Brien walks through decision to go for it on fourth-and-1 against the Ravens
The Houston Texans were gutsy against the Baltimore Ravens, but it wasn’t enough as they fell 33-16 Sunday afternoon in the NRG Stadium opener.
One of the turning points of the game was fourth-and-1 from the Houston 34-yard line with two seconds left in the first quarter. The Texans were down 3-0 to the Ravens, and the offense stayed on the field to pick up the yard to convert.
Coach Bill O’Brien explained to the Houston media after the game his thought process as to why the offense went for it rather than sending Bryant Anger out to punt.
“We had a fourth-and-1 early in the game and then the game was changed a little bit,” O’Brien said. “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.”
On the failed fourth down attempt, quarterback Deshaun Watson attempted to hit tight end Darren Fells. Instead, Watson was sufficiently pressured to where he threw off balanced and the ball landed at the heels of his tight end, turning the ball over on downs.
“But that’s just the way it works,” said O’Brien. “They did a better job than us on that and we just need to work hard to improve.”
The Texans will need to improve on their third down conversions as well. Houston faced a third-and-1 the play prior and Watson’s pass was incomplete. For the afternoon the Texans were 3-of-9 on third down. If the Texans can fix their conversion issues, then it should trickle down to providing more success throughout the offense.
