Houston Texans coach Bill O’Brien made the very questionable decision to run a fake punt on 4th and 4 from his own 31-yard line while up 24-7 in Sunday’s AFC Divisional game. The Chiefs made the stop, scored a touchdown, and didn’t stop scoring until the end of the game, which ultimately ended with the Chiefs grabbing a 51-31 win.
After the loss, O’Brien said he wanted to avoid giving the ball to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense, and thought the play was good enough to work.
Bill O’Brien on fake punt: “We felt like we weren’t going to be able to punt too many times today. It didn’t work. The play didn’t work.” Adds they thought they had a look where it should’ve worked. #HOUvsKC
— Kimberly Jones (@KimJonesSports) January 12, 2020
O’Brien added that he’d kicked a field goal on 4th and 1 from the Kansas City 13 earlier in the quarter because he didn’t like any of the plays he could have called.
O’Brien said he & Texans went into game believing they needed 50 points to leave KC with a win today. Said he kicked a FG earlier bc they didn’t have a play there that he liked.. #HOUvsKC
— Kimberly Jones (@KimJonesSports) January 12, 2020
To say “it didn’t work” is something of an understatement. While O’Brien is right that it took an excellent play from Daniel Sorensen to break up the fake punt play, he had to account for what might happen if the call did fail. It changed the trajectory of the game, and will be looked at as a turning point that led to Houston’s loss. O’Brien’s wish to keep the ball out of Mahomes’ hands is understandable, but there are times to pick and choose when to take risks. O’Brien had gone too conservative earlier in the game, and was too aggressive here. It was not a good game for him at all.
