Houston Texans get hosed on fourth down conversion (Video)

The Houston Texans were called short on a fourth down that they converted, and the Oakland Raiders scored a touchdown on the very next play.

The NFL’s first trip back to Mexico in more than a decade was a massive success. But if there’s one team that doesn’t care to go back, it’s the Houston Texans. Playing the Oakland Raiders, they knew that the crowd wouldn’t be behind them, but they were at least hoping the refs would be impartial.

Texans head coach Bill O’Brien has never shied away from going for it on fourth down, and he was successful early in the game. But on his second attempt, with the game tied at 20 in the fourth quarter, they handed the ball off to Akeem Hunt.

He didn’t even need to pick up a yard, and even though he clearly extended the ball past the sticks before going down, they brought it back to where it was snapped and called it short:

That’s going to be the talking point long after, because on the ensuing Raiders possession, Amari Cooper scored the game-winning touchdown:

The Raiders are one of the best teams in the league, and on most occasions, there would be no shame in losing to them. But in the Texans’ mind, they lost because of something that was out of their control.

Everyone likes to rip on Brock Osweiler, but he had a good game. He finished 26-of-39 with 243 passing yards and a touchdown, and wasn’t the reason his team lost the game.

While he has had some bad displays this season, the fact that the Texans have still gone 6-3 in spite of that and J.J. Watt’s injury is commendable. Ultimately, they deserved a better fate than this.

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Just because of how strong the AFC West, it’s very possible that the only other AFC teams that will make the playoffs are the other three division winners. In that sense, every game the Texans play will be a must-win from here on out. If they’re lucky, they might just get a rematch with Oakland in the playoffs.