Honestly... it didn't bother me in a vacuum because fake punt or punt - whatever: the Chiefs were going to score and score quickly. What bothered me about it was why fake a punt but you don't go for it on 4th and 1? That's the one that'll never make sense and, frankly, deserves it's own thread. If I were ranking the biggest mistakes from yesterday, the fake punt would slot... 3rd? 4th, maybe? 1) the FG on 4th and 1 2) the Deandre Carter fumble (just, on multiple levels, BRUUUUUUTAL) 3) the Hardman return (that sparked everything, and had been such a strength for the team) And then vying for 4th and 5th would be the fake punt and the defensive holding on Cunnigham at the goal line.... Yeah, fake punt is definitely 4th. OH! And though they scored on the drive, anyway - calling a wide receiver pass, down 4,000,000,000 to 24, REALLY pissed me off. I might be missing some key moments - those are the ones that stood out to me.
And the simple thing like burning the time out to kick the FG rather than taking the delay of game and kicking from 35 rather than 30. All things being the same, it would have been nice to have that time out right before the half.
My thought was, in you're going to call that timeout, just continue to go for it. Don't waste a timeout just to prevent a field goal 5 yards longer well in your kickers range. Fairbairn has made his last 13(?) field goals.
Fake punt takes the cake. The decision itself was so terrible, but it also took so long to get the call in that the defense was set up and ready for it. The same goes for not going for it on 4th and 1. The Chiefs were on their heels and you completely kill momentum by not only getting the call in too late, but also taking a timeout because you didn't like the call you just made. As for the kick return, not sure that was strategy or not being able to kick out the endzone. If the former, absolutely ridiculous to go into Arrowhead with the idea that letting them return kicks would work to your advantage.
IMHO, it should bother you in a vacuum. If you think your defense is just as bad on a long field as a very short field, then you should simply forfeit the game and walk off the field. It was a terrible call for a team with a 17-point lead.
so many things wrong with this game but I think some of the things that need to change immediately are the following, 1) get a FG kicker who has some chance of hitting a fg from 50 yards 2) get a kickoff kicker who can kick the ball out of the endzone consistently (should have never given hardman an opp to return kicks) 3) get a decent kickoff/punt returner. Carter very nearly gave up 7 points in the bills game and def gave up 7 points in this game those 3 things alone cost us 17 points, the way they were playing maybe they score the 14 points but those plays right there gave them all the momentum in the world and are easy fixes I think the obvious other way to have saved 7 points was to not freaking do something that you have never done, which is gamble so much on a fake punt!
I guess you missed the part of the broadcast where no one in NFL history has ever made a field goal from 50 in that direction during the playoffs. No one had even attempted one. Plus, wind was blowing in opposite direction during that kickoff. Fairbairn didn’t cost us anything
He had a down time but he made his last 13(?) or so field goals and 20(?) extra points. He’s fine. He led the league in made field goals last season. Can’t be so quick to him go. Especially when there’s no one else out there.
Don’t forget that BillyO went straight to Hyde up the middle twice in a row before a third down incompletion. That led to the moronic fake punt decision.
Yeah this is the thing. If you're gonna be aggressive on 4th down, why not be aggressive with Watson on first down instead? Or heck just leave Watson in there and run a real play on 4th and 4
This is why I’ll never trust this team as long as he is coach Texans are great at wasting players primes they do it like no other franchise they stick with coaches for damn near a decade
When it happened I told the guys I was watching the game with they we lost. They said "y'all are still up 24-7". I said "momentum change with that one play, we will lose because of it".
Now that I’ve had time to digest that s**** sandwich. I came to the conclusion that BOB took the gamble in thinking if it failed Romeo would bail him out like he’s always has. It paid off since Romeo will bail him out once again in saving his job. Hopefully there’s no scapegoat next season.
that’s not why he did it. He did it because he’s a bad coach trying to fake his way into being a good coach. he sees other teams do trick plays - heck the bills scored a trick play TD on then the prior week - and thinks I’ve got to be creative and help this team out. he doesn’t realize that he’s actually a horrible coach even though most of the time USI trick plays backfire. The only one that worked all season was the one where DW caught the pass on the sideline and scored... but even that one teetered on edge the whole time and was barely successful. meanwhile he’ll go straight up the middle for no yards time and time again. in short he has no clue how to actually design a modern offense, when to take risk, when to use motion, etc, etc. Not offense but Bear in mind Andy Reid flat out said we knew what the Texans were going to throw at them defensively so they just practiced for that. What do you know... it worked!! Lol. bobs is best as a coach when he stays out of the way.
He was 3-6 this season with two of the misses being right before halftime at 56 and 58 yards. The third was from 52. Also, I believe the Texans were first in the league or at least in the top five, in lowest kickoff return yards per return. At times their plan is to kickoff inside the five and keep the opponents image the 20. The vast majority of the time it works.
