The Texans played better yet lost because of the head coach, not the refs.
Texans fans should recognize what it looks like to get outcoached by now.
All of the above. Not challenging the criminally bad spot on 3rd down was ridiculous - a much better challenge than the one on 4th; in seconds, ESPN had
the still photo up that proved the spot was about 2 feet short of where it should have been. Not going for it on 4th and short with only 3+ minutes left (and only 1 time out) was cowardly. On a prior drive, when faced with 3rd and short in the red zone, they tried some fucked up trick play, instead of going for the 1st down, and ended up with a FG.
However, the decision to go for it on 4th down (after the horrible spot) was necessitated by the lack of the additional 4 points negligently (or deliberately) wiped off by the officials in the 1st quarter. Had the Texans been up by 4 - as they should have been - then the FG is an easy choice because the Raiders could only tie with a touchdown. The 1st quarter officiating incompetence forced the bad choices late in the game that were then compounded by more officiating incompetence. Even things like the unnecessary roughness call against Joseph (when jumping for an interception) were harsh. The calls were all going one way last night.
Yes, bad choices by O'Brien were made and the teams have to play around screw ups by the referees. But sometimes the referee screw-ups come at such inopportune times, or multiple screw-ups compound or, as in this case, both, that
a team cannot rise above it.
These teams were evenly matched - the referees made the difference.
On a more positive note: Clowney! And Osweiler looks to be ironing out some of his kinks; made much better choices and dropped far fewer bollocks when under pressure. And hey! What's that? A catch by a tight end!