Texans coach Bill O’Brien has had only one losing season in his five years as head coach in the NFL. Good for him. He also has a 1-3 playoff record including a 7-21 loss to the ragtag Indianapolis Colts (AT HOME). The Colts leaned on castoffs like Eric Ebron, Margus Hunt and Pierre Desir who underperformed at their old teams and thrived in their roles in Indianapolis. The Colts don’t have a strong ground game. They don’t have a true number two wide receiver. They have a rookie head coach.
O’Brien has a career coaching record of 42-38 (.525). For reference, Jim Harbaugh has an NFL coaching record of 44-19-1 (.695) and Wade Phillips (Rams DC) 82-64 (.562). The real measuring stick here for O’Brien isn’t his regular season record. It’s postseason success. The Texans have a slew of star players on both sides of the ball. Beating the Colts at home should be a cake walk for this organization.
2019 won’t get any easier for Houston. While the Jaguars are no longer a threat, the Titans arguably improved from last year going 9-7 on a cupcake schedule to 9-7 this season a schedule that’s more middle of the road. The Colts are obviously back on track as well. The Texans won the AFC South but that doesn’t mean a thing if they get knocked out by their baby brother in the wild card match-up. O’Brien was hand picked by former Texans GM Rick Smith, so Brian Gaine, Smith’s replacement may decide to bring in a face he feels is a better fit for his vision of the team. Firing a head coach after a 12-4 season may seem questionable on the surface, but O’Brien is 1-3 in the postseason and has one of the more talented rosters available. Bill O’Brien is shaping up to be the 2018 version of Jeff Fisher with a barely above 500 record.
Young names like Kliff Kingsbury or Lincoln Riley may be more available than previously let on if the price is right.
Another team was scheduled to play the Playoff Nick Foles Eagles’ this season. Although I will say this may have been a closer match-up than it at first appeared as Chicago had one of the softest schedules in the NFL. Defending the Matt Nagy/Trubisky duo didn’t seem to be too tough for the Eagles’ severely injured secondary. Thirty-five year old Darren Sproles will be healthy to face his former team in New Orleans next week. A rematch of a game that saw the Saints dropping a forty-burger and only allowing one score against Philly. Logic would dictate that Drew Brees and Sean Payton should win this contest by just doing their Saints thing. But Logic has not been in the building for some time now and my undying need to doubt Nick Foles only seems to make him stronger.
If you watched football in the 2000s you’ll remember Chargers/Patriots games involving overly talented Chargers teams losing to old man Troy Brown on freak-accident fumble recovery plays. We have another Chargers/Patriots game with two QBs who are salty and mentally unhinged in their own special way.
Take care of yourself. I love you.
Gridiron Seasonal 