The Houston Texans collected their first tie in franchise history during Week 1 against the Indianapolis Colts at NRG Stadium.
With 26 seconds left in the extra period, Texans coach Lovie Smith decided to punt on a fourth-and-3 from the Houston 49-yard line. Giving the ball back to the Colts deep in their own territory meant Indianapolis couldn’t escape the 20-20 stalemate, and both clubs are tied for a share of first place in the AFC South with an 0-0-1 record.
According to Doug Farrar from the Touchdown Wire, Smith’s decision to punt rather than go for it was one of the worst coaching calls from Week 1.
And then in overtime, nobody scored. Colts kicker Rodrigo Blankenship missed a 43-yard field goal with two minutes left in the fifth quarter, and the Texans took over at their own 32-yard line. They advanced all the way to the Colts’ 47-yard line, and then, on third-and-1 from the Indianapolis 47 with 40 seconds left, the decision was to give the ball to running back Rex Burkhead. The veteran lost two yards on the play, while preseason stud back Dameon Pierce, who had bullied the NFL to date, was not apparently an option.
Then, on fourth-and-3 from the Indy 49 and 26 seconds left, Smith made the call to punt for a tie. Which worked in the end, but the sequence of events didn’t make a ton of sense.
The Texans just ran Rex Burkhead instead of Dameon Pierce on third-and-1, and punted for a tie on fourth-and-3.
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) September 11, 2022
“As we look at the plays now, Rex got a chance to carry the ball more,” Smith said after the game. “Passing plays, passing situations, Rex was our lead back in that situation, so that’s kind of what happened. In an ideal world, of course, when you have a lead, you would like for that not to be the case, but once they came back at the end, that’s when the numbers started changing a little bit.”
As for the decision to punt, as opposed to going for it, Smith was certain about that.
“Because I felt like a tie was better than a loss in that situation. It’s a decision that you make. If you would guarantee that we were going to get it, then it was good. But if you miss it right there and they had stuffed us on the play, they have one play and they’re in position. It’s not like we were playing our best defense at the time. We were drained. We were gassed a little bit. That’s how it goes. In an ideal world, you don’t want a loss, you want a win, but if you can’t get the win, sometimes you settle for the tie. A lot of football left to go in the season.”
There are no guarantees in football. You have to play the percentages the best you can. The Texans did not do that in these two situations.
A day after the tie, Smith still backs the decision, and he has veteran support in the locker room.
Houston can add a win in Week 2 as they take on the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High.
