Is Bill O’Brien On The Hot Seat?

Bill O'Brien
Houston Texans Head Coach Bill O'Brien. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons - Under Creative Commons License

Is Bill O’Brien On The Hot Seat?

The Houston Texans are currently sitting at a (4-9) record and could possibly finish the season with 3 more losses added to the record. They played the 49ers this past Sunday and while it seemed like the game could finish in a close one, the final score did not show that. The Texans have been knocked out of playoff contention and it has many wondering, is it all Bill O’Brien’s fault?

Savage Starting

Before the 2017 NFL season started, Bill O’Brien paraded around media people telling everyone that Tom Savage was the clear starter. Many on the outside believed that was absurd and that Deshaun Watson would win the starting job before the first game. As the first game of the regular season approached, O’Brien assured everyone that Savage was the starter. Thirty minutes into the first game, Savage was pulled in favor of Watson.

Many people found it concerning that O’Brien took so long to realize Watson was the obvious starter. Watson is light years ahead of Savage in every way and it took a horrible first half showing from him and the team for O’Brien to wake up and realize his job was on the line. O’Brien wasted everyone’s time in believing Savage was the starter past day one of training camp. Is that a fireable offense?

The Offense

Since O’Brien’s hiring back in 2014, the Texans offense has never had a pulse. Then, Deshaun Watson comes in and makes O’Brien’s offensive scheme finally make sense. While O’Brien never had a quarterback even close to Watson, talent or athleticism wise, the offense was still inexcusable. Watson could make plays that no quarterback that has ever suited up for the Texans could even dream of making, so how could O’Brien screw this up?

Conservative O’Brien

In Week 3, the Texans went to Foxborough to face the Patriots. That was the game that Watson put everything together. You could see it on screen, he was able to slow the game down and just make the right play. The Texans almost won that game if it wasn’t for an end-game flub by O’Brien.

He made another bad judgment call in week 7 against the Seahawks that ultimately decided the game. Sports analysts and fans were calling for his job.

After the Seahawks game, everyone was calling Watson a superstar, the franchise guy, but they still questioned the coach. Then, Watson tears his ACL. So, where was O’Brien supposed to go now that his superstar went down? He had to go back to Tom Savage. Watson’s injury was out of O’Brien’s control, as well as the other the injuries and setbacks this team suffered. The defense getting burnt every week is not on O’Brien. How is the team supposed to win if not only when they can’t score, the defense can’t stop anyone from scoring?

Is He Staying Or Going?

I like Bill O’Brien. The players love O’Brien and only speak highly of him. Jadeveon Clowney spoke up in defense of his coach last week, as well as Watson. Those two coming out and publicly stating they want O’Brien back could potentially be what saves his job.

The Texans front office have a tough call to make. On one hand, he hasn’t had his quarterback since week 8, and no one was expecting him to win with Savage. Then again, the losses the team suffered with Watson and all the seasons prior could possibly indicate a trend with O’Brien. Can the front office trust he’ll make the right call to win the game? We will have to wait and see.