The Indianapolis Colts lost a chance at forcing a turnover against the Houston Texans due to a controversial penalty called on safety Malik Hooker.
During Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans, the Indianapolis Colts thought that they had come away with a clutch interception in the end zone to keep the game scoreless. Unfortunately, a controversial penalty negated the interception, and fans were furious.
In the first quarter of Sunday’s game, Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson tried to squeeze a throw into the red zone. With Malik Hooker in a tough spot and on one knee, he did his best to avoid contact while trying to break up a pass. Hooker’s teammate was able to grab an interception, but Hooker was called for a personal foul for making contact with a defenseless receiver.
The Texans ended up scoring a touchdown on the drive, and Colts fans were not happy. You can see the contact for yourself below and decide for yourself whether or not this should have been a penalty.
Some bigger names across the media landscape had some very strong feelings about the penalty, and understandably so.
What the hell was Malik Hooker supposed to do there? It’s impossible to play safety today
— trey wingo (@wingoz) December 9, 2018
No clue how Colts S Malik Hooker is supposed to avoid that.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) December 9, 2018
That call on Malik Hooker was just awful, how was he supposed to defend that, cost them a pick, then Houston scores....
— Mike Golic (@golic) December 9, 2018
The rules have changed in a big way this season, but the issues fans have been having has been both consistency and the fact that defenders are being put in impossible situations.
Instead of staying scoreless, the Texans took a 7-0 lead. In a must-win game for the Colts, plays like this could have a huge impact on their playoff hopes.