Texans Coach Lovie Smith Talks About His Decision to 'Dodge the Bullet' Against Colts
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Houston Texans head coach Lovie Smith caused quite the stir on social media and among credentialed journalists.
As the Texans neared the end of overtime still tied with the Indianapolis Colts and the ball on fourth down near midfield, Smith had a decision.
Go for it on fourth down to try and convert and move closer to a game-winning field goal try was one option.
Another was to try the long kick.
Finally, he had the option to punt the ball and put the Colts deep in their own territory without much opportunity to win the game themselves.
He chose door three.
"It's not an ideal situation," Smith said on the Coffee With Coach show on the team's website. "We wanted to win. We were up big, but at the end, an opportunity to kind of dodge the bullet as far as getting the loss with a missed field goal."
So, as we expected, Smith confirmed that he played for the tie and to protect his team from a loss.
And while many will disagree with the decision in a 'win at all costs' kind of rallying cry, the right decision was made.
A divisional loss is much more damaging, and a tie against what is expected to be one of the top teams in the AFC South could help Houston in the long run.
But we're getting ahead of ourselves here. For it to be helpful, the Texans have to be in playoff contention.
"There's a lot of football left to go," Smith continued. "We went into the game wanting to be in first place in the AFC South, and right now, that's where we are...It's not an ideal situation, but (it's) something we can still build on."
Houston will look to build on their strong start early and learn from the late collapse as they seek to send the Denver Broncos to what would be perhaps the most surprising 0-2 start of the young NFL season.
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