One day after making his Houston Texans coaching debut, Lovie Smith met with the media on Monday and reiterated that the decision to punt the ball on fourth down in overtime to the Indianapolis Colts was a decision he would make over again if he had to.
“Not really looking back an awful lot on the situations we made at the time,” Smith said at the podium. “The fourth down at the end of the game, I would do that over again.”
Buy Texans TicketsAfter giving up a 20-3 lead in the fourth quarter and surviving a missed 42-yard field goal from Colts kicker Rodrigo Blakenship in overtime. With 26 seconds left in overtime, the Texans were faced with a major decision at midfield on fourth and three.
Attempt a long field goal try with kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn who was 18-for-28 from 50-yards or farther and kicked a 61-yard field goal last year against the Seattle Seahawks at NRG Stadium, or punt the ball back to the Colts and let them take their chances going over 45-plus yards to get into field goal range yet again to win the game.
After talking it over with his coaching staff, Smith decided to take a delay of game penalty and punt the ball to Indianapolis.
“We thought about it,” coach Smith said after the game on Sunday. “I knew if we didn’t get it, they had time, and it’s not like we were playing our best defense then. If we had made it, we would have been in position. Just felt like there, based on what all had happened in the game, that was the right decision.”
“Not realize that, what I did then, I would do now,” said Texans HC Lovie Smith on his decision to punt in overtime. #WeAreTexans #Sarge @TheTexansWire pic.twitter.com/B5q35lT4fv
— #SARGE (@BigSargeSportz) September 12, 2022
When asked what made him realize that he made the right decision, coach Smith doubled down on his original statement.
“Not realize that, what I did then, I would do now,” said Smith about the situation. “The plan we had on yesterday, was on third and one, the plan was to go two downs then. But once we got to fourth and three, I did not like our odds.”
“The way we had played the previous plays and how we were playing defensively. I did not feel like giving them (Colts) the ball on the other side. So you have a decision to make then on whether a tie or potential loss as I saw it right then. All we had gone through that day, I felt okay with that.”
