Examining the Three Penalties on the Colts Final Drive Against the Texans

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Many Houston fans are incensed after last night's Colts-Texans game. They feel that the refs made many bad calls. I agree that the game was not officiated well, but did the refs truly cost Houston the game?

The three plays I will be examining happened during the Colts game winning drive. Were the calls correct, did they affect the outcome of the drive and did Houston truly deserve to win the game?

1st and Ten from the Texan's 20 Yard Line

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The first penalty was an obvious call. J.J. Watt appeared to beat his man and stop Dan Orlovsky for a two yard gain. It was a huge play that could have stalled the Colts come back attempt.

Then the flag came out and Watt was was called for illegal hands to the face. The penalty got the Colts closer and gave them another first down

Verdict: Correct

Watt clearly yanked his man's face mask to get him out of the way and get to Orlovsky. Great call by the refs.

1st and Ten from the Texan's 13 Yard Line

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Orlovsky drops back to pass and misses Austin Collie. Watt falls on the back of Orlovsky's knees as another Texan brings Orlovsky down. The flag is thrown for roughing the passer.

Verdict: Incorrect

Watt did indeed fall on the back of Orlovsky's knee after the ball was thrown and at first I thought the call was correct. Then I saw the replay. Watt was indeed pushed into Orlovsky by a Colts player. It moved the ball up to the six yard line and gave the colts another down.

It was the most incorrect call of the three, but it was also the one with the least impact in my opinion. The ball was only moved six yards and while it gained the Colts an extra down they still would have had the ball second and ten at their thirteen, still a not a bad posistion to be in.

3rd and Six from the Texan's Six Yard Line

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Two plays afte rthe roughing the passer penalty the Colts face a third and goal from the six. Orlovsky tries a slant play to Jacob Tamme who is interfered with by Glover Quinn. The Colts are awarded first and goal from the one yard line.

Verdict: Correct

Quinn obviously grabbed Tamme's jersey which directly led to Tamme not being able to catch the ball. It was an obvious foul and the blame falls directly at Quinn's feet for being beat so bad. 

Final Verdict

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The Texans beat themselves. T.J. Yates played so conservatively it was bad and the defense looked lackluster. Even Foster, who had 156 yards, only had one touchdown and didn't help the Texans finish off drives with touchdowns instead of interceptions.

Sure there were bad calls including a phantom pass interference and the worst roughing the passer call I have ever seen, but on the final drive two of the three penalties were called correctly and the one that was called incorrectly did not give the Colts a huge advantage.

The fact that the Texans could not stop the Colts before they got to the red zone on the final drive was sad. The huge play to Wayne was unacceptable and the seeming lack of effort by anyone besides J.J. Watt to make a play was pathetic.

Despite the two game win streak, the Colts are a very bad team and the Texans let themselves be beat despite having much more talent.