Heard on 790 that "New York" called for that play to be reviewed but the Pats snapped the ball before it got to the refs. A timeout would have made the difference.
https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/pro-refocused-nfl-week-1-patriots-27-texans-20 During the first half, it looked like J.J. Watt was in for another quiet game against the Patriots, but he reminded all those watching of his extraordinary talents in the second half. Watt racked up multiple pressures and stops in the second half, coming alive when given the opportunity to go up against LaAdrian Waddle in the third quarter and continuing his disruptive display throughout the second half, even when Marcus Cannon was on the field. A mixed day for the Texans’ secondary with Johnson struggling in coverage in the red zone before leaving late in the game due to a head injury. However, there were positive signs from Tyrann Mathieu and Kareem Jackson, as both looked like productive contributors when coming forward against both run and pass. Jackson capped off his display by cutting down James Develin on the Patriots’ final third down to at least give his offense a shot at a 99-yard miracle drive. It was a real Jekyll & Hyde performance from sophomore quarterback Deshaun Watson in this game, but in the end, his performance was better than it looked like being halfway through the game. Some poor mistakes early in the game led to turnovers, and some wayward accuracy led to plays left on the table as well as the big plays surrendered to the Patriots’ defense. He grew into the game in the second half, though, as the Texans’ ground game got going and some effective short passing helped turn his performance around a little as his offensive line found their feet later in the game. A rough outing for Davenport was made all the more difficult by being forced to swap sides midway through the game when Seantrel Henderson was injured. On either side, Davenport struggled in pass protection, surrendering multiple pressures to an array of Patriots’ pass rushers. Rookie Martinas Rankin, who replaced Davenport at left tackle when Henderson went down, fared little better. The Texans’ interior held up well in pass pro, but the Texans’ bookends have plenty of room to grow from here. Key to the game Presented with a quarterback who likes to hold the ball in the pocket and a raw offensive line, the Patriots’ pass rush did not disappoint. Led by Flowers, they ultimately didn’t allow Watson the time to settle into the game until it was too late to mount a successful comeback. A rough start from Watson dug a hole too deep for the Texans to overcome in Foxborough.
I am so glad he wasn't hurt. He did look rusty, but that shouldn't be surprising. He is right, he held the ball far too long. Receivers were well covered though. Play calling was very sub-par, but I doubt that was his fault. NE makes a lot of folks look bad.
He has a point in that they had time to adjust for another play, but they just got carved up, taking time would have benefited the Texans more than the Patriots at that point -- the right play was to call a timeout there. The bigger issue is his attitude is ****, and it's not the only mistake O'Brien made today. I'm not positive this dude believes that he's capable of making a mistake.
Special teams were remarkably effective. RBs had an ok day. Seemed like the secondary made a few plays. Romo pointing out everything made it seem pretty obvious that the team lacks a true captain, O’Brien needs to annoint an OC and be a real head coach. Frankly I don’t care for his playcall anyway. Watson looked like he was going practice speed.
This is just a lack of awareness by BoB. The potential benefit of a timeout completely outweighs the risk. The exact same thing happened last year when he challenged a short yard completion which still resulted in a 4th down. You don’t risk a timeout for a few yards when you’re getting the ball back anyways.
So confident they didn't think it was necessary to use preseason to their advantage. Watson's 62.9 QB rating showed that. Meanwhile Pat Mahomes had an impressive 127.5 rating and Fitzpatrick had a 156.3 rating. As much as I support any QB we have, I really wish we had found a way to snag Mahomes instead of KC trading up for him. I think that kid is gonna be fun to watch, as much as I hate the Chiefs. I've always loved a rocket arm style QB though. Heck, Watson couldn't even reach the end zone on a Hail Mary. I think he needs to quit being so arrogant about saying he sees himself getting 70 touchdowns this year. Come on Deshawn get rid of that ball quicker and hit your man. Maybe with Fuller back everything will fall into place. Oh, that's right, we will still have our Coach and Offensive coordinator BOB running the show. Come on Texans! Let's start fresh next week and give us something to cheer about!!!!!
BoB is so arrogant for not having worth sh**. Bunch of 9-7 season and he acts like he is a 5x super bowl winning coach. Give me a break.
Timeout, it’s Bill O’Brien’s job to win games Spoiler FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Gruff, defensive, irritated, Bill O’Brien wasn’t about to conclude the immediate self-analysis with the determination that he had made a mistake. That is not his nature. So, there was no acceptance of blame or admission of guilt Sunday afternoon, even after his Texans had come up seven points short of the Patriots. Points the Patriots scored on a second-quarter possession that could have ended quite differently had O’Brien done what any sharp football coach would have: Call a timeout. The moment was just before halftime after Rob Gronkowski attempted to make a difficult catch, but lost the ball when he hit the ground. What might have been an overturned call had the officiating crew checked on instant replay ended up being a 28-yard gain because one coach rushed his team to the line of scrimmage to get a play off and the other coach stood dazed and confused. Instead of accepting culpability when asked if he considered calling a timeout as a delaying tactic to give the officials time to review the play, O’Brien gave us a Freddie Prinze routine (minus the Puerto Rican accent). “It’s not my job,” O’Brien said. What an odd stance considering he was one of only three people among the crowd of 65,878 at Gillette Stadium on Sunday charged with making such decisions. Were it advantageous to his team, Bill Belichick would have called a timeout. Head referee Tony Corrente would have stopped play had he received the order from the league office, as is the procedure in the final two minutes of the half. But the call from New York came after the next play had started. O’Brien was the one who could have gotten it done. Even CBS play-by-play man Jim Nantz implored the Texans to call a timeout as the Patriots were rushing to the line of scrimmage. So, why not call a timeout, coach? Why not do what it takes to give the officials time to take a second look? Why not do all you could to slow a drive that would turn a one-possession game into a 21-6 halftime deficit? “These are questions for (Senior Vice President of Officiating) Al Riveron and the NFL, not for me,” O’Brien said. “These are not questions for me. “It’s not my job, you know?” Yeah, Chico is blaming The Man. O’Brien can point all 10 of his fingers in the direction of the league for having a system that can occasionally be taken advantage of by smart coaches. But not being one of the smart coaches is on him. This is nothing new. O’Brien has made a host of clock and game management blunders in his four years as Texans head coach. You’d think he would have grown out of it by now, but at 4 years, one week old, he remains a coaching toddler. Tantrums and all. Considering the way the Texans played, the play in question might not have changed the game. After trailing 21-6 after the Patriots scored just 14 seconds before the half, the Texans would fall behind 24-6 midway through the third quarter. Houston’s offense, one that showed so much promise with Deshaun Watson running for half of last season, was struggling. Watson was slow in his reads, off-target on many throws and out of sync. The Patriots put in a strong team effort defensively, with solid coverage that forced Watson to hold onto the ball longer than the Texans would like. And their disciplined pass rush mostly kept Watson in a collapsing pocket. But it was obvious he wasn’t playing at game speed. Perhaps that was the result of his having not played since injuring his knee in practice last October. If only there had been a way for the Texans to get their young quarterback some game reps before Sundays season opener. I know what you’re thinking: That’s what preseason games are for. O’Brien didn’t think so. Watson barely broke a sweat in the three exhibition games in which he participated, taking five, 11, and 11 snaps, respectively, while attempting a total of 15 passes in them. The risk of injury makes preseason tricky, but Tom Brady, a 19-year veteran who has won more than twice as many games in his career as the Texans franchise, played more than twice as many plays and attempted three times as many passes in the preseason as 22-year-old Watson. Brady, who was 26-of-39 for 277 yards and three touchdowns against the Texans, was ready to play on Sunday. Watson wasn’t. He completed just 1-of-6 passes for 3 yards in the first quarter and turned the ball over with a fumble on the first play of the game. Understandably, the Texans didn’t want to take any unnecessary risks with Watson, but game action in preparing for the season is necessary for a young quarterback. For any quarterback. It was necessary for Brady. When in doubt, O’Brien should ask himself, “What would Belichick do? Instead … “I wouldn’t go back and do anything differently in the preseason,” O’Brien said. “I feel like we had a bunch of preparation to be ready for this game.” O’Brien didn’t have his team ready for the Patriots. Not at Gillette, where New England has never lost to the Texans (7-0 including the playoffs). There will be much self-reflection over the next day or so. That’s what coaches do. They grind, grouse and grapple over every decision. At some point, O’Brien might admit to himself that he blew it. His not immediately acknowledging the timeout fail or rethinking his preseason plan isn’t why the Texans lost their season opener. A reluctance to second-guess oneself publicly isn’t why O’Brien is just 31-34 with the Texans. His first guesses are the bigger concern. They have been since he was hired in 2014. Too often, he has not put his team in the best position to win games. That is his job. Not even O’Brien would argue that.
