Bill O’Brien was clearly unhappy with a couple of crucial calls that did not go the Houston Texans’ way in their loss to the Oakland Raiders Monday night, but the head coach said he was trying to avoid being fined when asked about the play after the game.
He may not have succeeded.
While O’Brien stopped short of ripping the officiating crew, he expressed frustration with DeAndre Hopkins being called out of bounds on a potential touchdown in the first quarter and Akeem Hunt being stopped short of the line to gain on fourth down in the fourth quarter.
“I’m not going to stand here and get fined. I’m just a third-year coach. But with all these cameras and things we have and we can’t get that right?” O’Brien said of Hunt’s run.
O’Brien challenged the Hunt ruling, but the call on the field stood. He was unable to challenge the Hopkins play earlier in the game, as the whistle had blown and stopped the play.
“If you want to talk about (challenges), let’s go back to that one,” O’Brien said. “Did he look out of bounds to you? I had the flag out, but they told me I couldn’t challenge.”
The Hopkins play came on the opening drive of the game, and the Texans ended up settling for a field goal. For what it’s worth, the call on the field was that Hopkins stepped out of bounds. Replays showed that it was incredibly close, so it seems unlikely the call would have been reversed.
In any event, the Texans blew a fourth-quarter lead. O’Brien can try to play cute all he wants, but publicly questioning officiating typically results in a fine. His wallet will probably get lighter at some point this week.
