The Houston Texans should be a Super Bowl contender, but head coach Bill O’Brien has hardly had them looking like one through six games.
Houston Texans head coach Bill O’Brien has a pretty good resume, and on paper, he looks like the kind of guy an NFL contender would like to have on the sidelines.
After all, O’Brien worked under Bill Belichick in New England for a handful of years. He was an offensive coordinator, wide receivers coach, and quarterbacks coach during his time with the Patriots, and he worked very closely with future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady. O’Brien is also known as the guy that revived the Penn State football program following the Sandusky-Paterno scandal.
O’Brien has proven in the past that he can be a good football coach. But right now, the Texans are barely fighting to stay afloat after a disastrous 0-3 start to the 2018 season. They got back on the right track with back-to-back overtime wins against Indianapolis and Dallas, and narrowly avoided overtime against the Buffalo Bills after a Nathan Peterman pick six sealed the win for Houston in Week 6.
The Texans are 3-3 and still very much alive in the AFC South, but with the talent on this team, they should be at least 4-2 right now, maybe even 5-1. This Houston defense should be one of the most elite groups in the league with guys like J.J. Watt, Jadeveon Clowney, Whitney Mercilus and Tyrann Matthieu. On the offensive side, Deshaun Watson is one of the most exciting young quarterbacks in the NFL, and receiver DeAndre Hopkins is a top three or four receiver.
Despite the talent, the Texans have played some very average football in 2018. And when a talented team underachieves, fingers start getting pointed at the head coach.
Since Houston has gotten back to the .500 mark, O’Brien might make it through the rest of the season. But it’s very clear that he hasn’t coached this team to play like the Super Bowl contender it should be, and the Texans might need to start looking for someone who can do that.