Texans Head Coach Bill O'Brien: “We Need To Have More Up
In last week's win over Washington, the Houston Texans offense was a lot of things: methodical, efficient, at times wasteful, but ultimately effective.
Fast-paced, however, it was not.
The Texans called an offensive play only once every 30.40 seconds, the 27th quickest in the NFL's opening weekend. By comparison, the Baltimore Ravens (20.34), New England Patriots (21.98) and Philadelphia Eagles (21.98) were the fastest in the league. The Detroit Lions (32.79) were slowest.
'We need to have more up-tempo,' head coach O'Brien said on Wednesday. 'There's different definitions of up-tempo. I'm not talking about necessarily going warp speed all the time. I'm just saying, we've got to get into a better rhythm and get the play in faster, get to the line of scrimmage faster, all those things that go into tempo. I really believe in that.'
It's been something that's defined O'Brien offenses throughout his career. O'Brien first began heavily emphasizing up-tempo in 2010 as Patriots quarterbacks coach. The year prior, O'Brien's first in New England, the Patriots called a snap every 28.72 seconds, 23rd in the league. By 2011, the Pats were the fastest in the NFL, getting off a play every 24.76 seconds.
'I think, 2010 in New England, when we really started playing fast, that was a good thing for this offensive system,' O'Brien said. 'We need to keep improving that here in Houston.'
It was also a big part of his system at Penn State, where he was head coach in 2012 and 2013.
'We did it a ton at Penn State,' O'Brien said. 'It really helped us at Penn State. We're trying to implement some of it here.'
It is something of a need for any offense in today's NFL. O'Brien mentioned Eagles head coach Chip Kelly and Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels among those who've implemented speed best, but the game is being played faster league-wide. Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy installed high-octane elements of his scheme for the first time this offseason, as did former Texans head coach and current Ravens offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak.
Increasingly, offenses that don't have an air of go-go are the exception, not the rule.
It's not something that Fitzpatrick can't or would prefer not to do. Quite the opposite.
'You see it more and more,' Fitzpatrick said on Wednesday. 'There was some tempo used by us last week. You watch every game, there's some tempo, just in terms of getting up to the line, doing some things. It's one of those things that it is increasingly part of the game. But it's something that I'm comfortable with and that I enjoy. A lot of that is just what the situation calls for as well.'
To that end, the Texans pace last week wasn't about trying simply to milk the clock in a close game. They were actually slower in the first half, calling a play every 31.42 seconds, and were at their fastest when they went ahead, snapping every 29.61 seconds, the 10th-fastest in football for teams when leading by 7 or more points, as they had been from the 2:09 mark in the second quarter until the end of the game.
More likely, the Texans pace is a function of familiarity. O'Brien and Fitzpatrick have only started working together for a few months. By the time the Patriots rose to the top of the NFL's pace elites, O'Brien and quarterback Tom Brady were in their third year together.
'This is about three or four questions on this. I'm not sure - would anyone expect us to go out there in game 1 with everybody together for really the first time and play a perfect football game?' O'Brien said. 'I don't think that's ever been done. We were together for the first time in a regular season game last Sunday. We did a lot of good things. We did a lot of things we need to really improve on.
'So again, every week is about getting better. Can we get better tomorrow than we were today. Can we be better on Friday. Can we be better Sunday than we were last Sunday. That's going to be the mark of this team, if we can continue to improve and get better.'
Their tempo being no exception.
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