Deshaun Watson was almost magic

Early whistle takes points off the board for Texans

Cody Stoots
Oct 20, 2019, 1:00 pm
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The Texans were set up for success after a Colts mistake led to amazing field position.

The Texans, who came in with the best red zone offense in football, were pushed to third down. It was almost magic from DeAndre Hopkins and Deshaun Watson once again.

Another angle would show the official's call of Watson being in the grasp a bit more clearly.

CBS' rules analyst would add clarity in that the early whistles are often in the hopes of keeping the quarterback from taking a big hit.

It would force the Texans to settle for their third field goal of the day. There is also a discussion to be had on if the Hopkins movements would be considered a catch. It seems he caught the ball and had it knocked away which would mean it was a touchdown.

The Texans ultimately lost by seven as they tried to score a touchdown just under two minutes. If they were only shooting for a field goal the outcome might have been different.

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The team also officially promoted Jack Easterby as well

Bill O'Brien now Texans General Manager in addition to head coach

Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

Bill O'Brien has a new placard on his desk.

New title for O'Brien and his unofficial assistant GM

As seen above the Texans have named Bill O'Brien as the general manager in addition to his role as the team's head coach. O'Brien joins his former boss Bill Belichick as one of the members of the NFL coaching community who also has the decision-making powers.

Jack Easterby, who also previously worked with the New England Patriots, now has an official title too. It was widely believed he had heavy input on the team in his past year with the team.

This had been coming

It would be interesting to know if this was something known in the building by the team or just assumed. Either way, something long whispered, came to fruition.

With the amount of front office talent that has left the organization in the past year there was some belief O'Brien was consolidating his power. Today, he has all the power in the organization.

Business as usual, with the titles

SB Nation Radio NFL Insider Adam Caplan told me teams have treated the situation in Houston as if O'Brien was the Texans general manager since Brian Gaine was fired by the team.

Now O'Brien has the title with the work. He is in charge of the team from a management perspective, he is the head coach, and he calls the plays for the teams.

How does this work?

HoustonTexans.com

I don't think it does work. I don't see it. SB Nation Radio NFL Insider Adam Caplan told me the expectation from the league is O'Brien will do whatever he has to do to keep his job.

O'Brien did a ton this past offseason and yet the team regressed in many areas. Without a regular slate of draft picks and quite a few of their own players set to hit free agency the Texans are in a tough spot.

Short of O'Brien really taking the next step along with a few of his key players and some solid and smart spending the Texans might have hit their ceiling in 2019. If that's the case, O'Brien could theoretically survive a similar campaign in 2020. But, there are no more excuses. O'Brien has nobody to blame but himself now.

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