The Houston Texans tied with the Indianapolis Colts 20-20 in Week 1 at NRG Stadium, and that cost them one spot in the power rankings.
According to Dan Hanzus from NFL.com, the Texans dropped to No. 28 due to coach Lovie Smith’s decision to play for a tie in overtime rather than risk it all for a win.
Lovie Smith won’t say it, but when he sends the punt unit on the field on 4th-and-3 at midfield with less than one minute to play in overtime, he’s telling the world, “I don’t think my offense is good enough.” Settling for a tie when you have a chance to score a major Week 1 upset is a disappointing way for your new head coach to announce his arrival, but it’s not like Smith was without justification. The Davis Mills-led offense produced just 12 yards in the fourth quarter, allowing the Colts to erase a 20-3 deficit. “When you get a lead like that, good things had to happen on both sides of the football and special teams,” Smith said. “So that’s what we’ll build on.” Ugh.
Actually, what Smith said was the defense was gassed. Presuming the offense couldn’t pick up the first down on a fourth-and-3 from midfield, Smith knew that the defense wasn’t going to be able to stop the Colts from getting Rodrigo Blankenship into field goal range for a game-winning attempt. After all, that is precisely what happened on Indianapolis’ first drive of overtime.
Across the rest of the AFC South, the Colts took the worst of the tie as they dropped three spots down to No. 12. The Tennessee Titans were No. 17. The Jacksonville Jaguars were No. 31.
