You can talk about scheme, play calling, in game decisions, anger issues, whatever. The bottom line with Bill O'Brien and the fan base, I think, is trust. Nobody likes the rug constantly pulled out from under them.
Consider: Four times this season, the Texans had "the biggest win of the O'Brien era."
Each time, they followed it up with a dud, one seemingly worse than the next.
- Week 3: Texans 27, Chargers 20
- Week 4: Panthers 16, Texans 10
- Week 6: Texans 31, Chiefs 24
- Week 7: Colts 30, Texans 23
- Week 13: Texans 28, Patriots 22
- Week 14: Broncos 38, Texans 24 (fell behind 38-3 at home to a rookie QB on his second start)
- Playoffs Week 1: Texans 22, Bills 19
- Playoffs Week 2: Chiefs 51, Texans 31 (blew a 24-0 lead with chance to host the AFC title game)
The Texans handled prosperity worse and worse as the season went on. That's not something cured by some tweaks. That's a foundational issue. O'Brien is the CEO of the on field product, and if the Texans on field product were a publicly held company, shareholders would be livid.
Watch above for the postgame reaction to the Texans' 51-31 loss to the Chiefs.
Was thinking about this on the way home from postgame tonight — you can talk about scheme, play calling, in game decisions, anger issues, whatever.The bottom line with O'Brien and the fan base, I think, is trust. Nobody likes the rug constantly pulled out from under them.
— Sean Pendergast (@SeanTPendergast) January 13, 2020
