Houston Texans

The NFL has many officiating issues, even if it chooses to ignore most of them.

Here’s one that could be easily fixed.

It happens when an extra point or a field goal involves the ball going over the uprights. Instant replay, by rule, is not available. The officials have to decide whether, when the ball passed over the top of the structure, it was within the inside edge of the yellow pole.

On Sunday, a fourth-quarter extra point attempt by the Texans kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn appeared to not pass within the imaginary line extending above the uprights. The one-point difference became critical, making the score 20-13 when it arguably should have been 19-13. The Colts, who lost 20-16, could have tied the game with a late field goal, if that point had not been awarded to the Texans.

It doesn’t have to be that way. Although making the uprights even higher than they are poses engineering and aesthetic challenges, there are other solutions.

One, put a wireless camera with a wide-angle lens at the top or each upright. With the proliferation of affordable camera technology, it would be cheap and easy to have a way to see where the ball was when it passed over the camera.

Two, install a thin beam atop each upright that would be activated before every kick. It would create a simulated extension of the apparatus, allowing replay review to decide whether the ball passes inside, outside, or through the yellow ray of light.

Third, use the existing array of Hawkeye cameras in the same way it’s currently employed (albeit surprisingly rarely) for virtual measurements. Multiple readers from other side of the Atlantic Ocean have pointed out that hurling has developed a system for doing exactly what the NFL needs — a way to triangulate the location of the ball in order to determine whether the kick was, or wasn’t, successful.

There’s a way to fix the problem that reared its head on Sunday. With so much technology available, the old-school, no-tech approach needs to be abandoned, whenever and wherever possible.

Laken Tomlinson opened the season as the starting left guard for the Texans, but he lost that job and he’s now lost his spot on the roster.

The Texans announced that they have waived Tomlinson on Tuesday. They did not make a corresponding addition to their 53-man roster.

Tomlinson signed a one-year deal with the Texans as a free agent this offseason. He started seven of the first eight games of the season, but was replaced by Jarrett Patterson in Week 10 and he has been inactive for the team’s last two games.

Juice Scruggs and Jarrett Kingston remain on the depth chart as reserves on the interior of the line.

It’s been a long time since Andy Reid and the Chiefs have found themselves with such long odds of making the playoffs as the ones they have right now, but there aren’t any signs of white flags being flown by the head coach in Kansas City.

Reid said on Monday that he feels the team has been a few plays away from turning most of their losses into victories and that the focus will be on tightening up their execution in those situations because they are still “in position where if we can figure out those two, three plays, you flip this around.”

“If you’re coming to me, we’re going to go after you every game, and that’s how we roll,” Reid said, via Dave Skretta of the Associated Press. “We’re going to tickle your tonsils on every play, every game. But that’s the attitude we’re coming in with, and then you let the chips fall where they may.”

At 6-6, the Chiefs are in a deep enough hole that simply winning their next five games won’t be enough to guarantee them a spot in the postseason tournament. It would be a pretty good place to start any push, however, and next Sunday night’s game against the Texans is the first must-win game for the defending AFC champions.

The pool report from Sunday’s Texans-Colts game addressed three controversial calls. It overlooked one of them.

With three minutes to play the third quarter, the Colts faced third and 19 from the Houston 44. Quarterback Daniel Jones threw deep to receiver Alec Pierce. The officials called pass interference on safety Calen Bullock. The Colts picked up 32 yards in field position, and a first down.

There was only one problem. And it was a big one. The pass was clearly uncatchable.

The ball landed well out of bounds, close to the dotted yellow line painted nine feet from the outer edge of the thick white stripe that borders the sideline. Pierce would have needed a ladder, or a pogo stick, to have a chance at catching the throw.

There was no discussion of catchability during the broadcast. None of the Texans defenders made the gesture (palm over top of head) that indicates uncatchability. The official who threw the flag didn’t even look to see where the ball had landed.

It was a clear miss, one that resulted in a Colts touchdown on the very next play, tying the game (with the extra point) at 13.

Again, it wasn’t addressed in the pool report. The league otherwise hasn’t said anything about it. During Football Night in America, Simms decried the lack of common sense exhibited by the call. (As Simms quipped, the hot dog vendor had a better chance at catching the ball than Pierce.)

Unfortunately, common sense ain’t. And that quality was on display in Indy. If the Colts had won the game, it presumably would have been a much bigger deal. Instead, because the Texans won, three calls that favored Houston became the subject of the post-game postmortem.

The Texans got quarterback C.J. Stroud back in the lineup for Sunday’s game Colts and they got the result they were looking for against the Colts.

Houston’s 20-16 win extended their winning streak to four games and kept them in the mix for the AFC South title if they can continue stacking victories. Stroud was 22-of-35 for 276 yards and an interception in the game and said he “knocked off some rust” that accumulated while he was out for three games with a concussion.

Stroud said that he felt he got “rolling” as that rust fell away and that he thinks the Texans can continue to turn around a season that opened with losses in their first three games.

“We’re super dangerous,” Stroud said, via Aaron Wilson of KPRC. “We lost some close games against some really good teams. If we can find a way to win some close games after Thanksgiving, we’ll put ourselves in position to do whatever we want.”

Stroud and the Texans will be in Kansas City next Sunday night for a game that is crucial to the playoff hopes of both teams, so Houston will need a rust-free performance from their quarterback if they want to keep rising after their early stumbles.

Sunday’s Texans-Colts game included various controversial calls. Three of them were addressed by referee Clay Martin in a post-game pool report.

Like most pool reports, it was largely useless. But don’t take my word for it. Here’s what was said to pool reporter Stephen Holder.

First, on the fourth-quarter play where the play clock clearly ran out before the ball was snapped, Martin was asked why a delay of game was not called.

“The back judge is the calling official and there is a process on that,” Martin said. “When the clock hits zero, he looks down to the ball and if the ball is snapped as he looks down from the clock to the ball, we leave that alone. That’s what he ruled on the play.”

It’s not an uncommon situation. The NFL play clock isn’t like an NBA shot clock. There’s no buzzer. The official has to see that the clock has hit zero, to check whether the ball has been snapped. It builds in a second or so of a buffer, which is (for the most part) consistently applied.

Second, on that same play, Colts cornerback Kenny Moore was flagged for pass interference after Texans receiver Xavier Hutchinson seemed to fall down.

Said Martin: “The calling official had an arm grab at the top of the route. When you look back, the ball was in the air, and when you see the ball in the air, that makes it pass interference.”

Not actually. By rule, the contract must “restrict the opponent’s opportunity to make the catch.” Any contact at the top of the route didn’t seem to affect Hutchinson.

Third, Martin was asked about the Texans’ fourth-quarter extra point that seemed to be no good.

“The calling official had the ball above the upright and completely inside the outside edge of the upright and so he ruled a successful try,” Martin said. “Since the ball was above the upright, it’s not reviewable.”

So there it is. Another pool report that largely says nothing we didn’t already know. Rarely if ever is the subject of a pool report going to admit that there was a mistake. It would be far better to have one person who meets with reporters on a weekly basis and answers any/all questions about calls from the prior slate of games.

The Texans won their fourth game in a row and fifth in six games, pulling closer in the AFC South standings.

Houston beat Indianapolis 20-16 on Sunday, improving the Texans’ record to 7-5, while the Colts fell to 8-4. The Jaguars will move to 8-4 after they finish off the Titans.

The Colts reached the Houston 32 with 2:36 to play. Jonathan Taylor ran for 1 yard on first down, but officials missed a facemask penalty on safety Calen Bullock. Daniel Jones then threw three consecutive incompletions, giving Houston the ball back with 1:45 left.

The Colts never saw it again. Texans running back Woody Marks had runs of 1 and 9 yards, picking up a first down and burning two of the Colts’ timeouts. Houston then was able to run out the clock.

Officials had a questionable day with several big missed calls, including a pass interference penalty on each team that shouldn’t have been. Texans kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn appeared to miss an extra point wide left, too, but it was called good.

Ultimately, it was Michael Badgley’s missed PAT that bounced off the left upright that left the Colts in a position where they couldn’t kick a field goal to tie it late.

The Texans outgained the Colts 364 to 281 and outplayed them, but they went 0-for-2 on fourth down and 2-for-5 in the red zone to keep it competitive.

C.J. Stroud returned after missing three games with a concussion and completed 22 of 35 passes for 276 yards and an interception. Marks ran for 64 yards on 19 carries, and Nico Collins caught five passes for 98 yards.

It was the first time this season that an opponent has held the Colts to fewer than 20 points.

Daniel Jones, who is playing with a fractured fibula, went 14-of-27 for 201 yards and two touchdowns. Jonathan Taylor had 21 carries for 85 yards and was held scoreless. Alec Pierce caught four passes for 78 yards and a touchdown, and Josh Downs added two catches for 44 yards.

The Colts benefited from a questionable pass interference call against the Texans on their game-tying touchdown drive. The Texans, though, got one back on the ensuing drive.

On third-and-15 from the Indianapolis 25, the play clock reached zero before the snap. Officials did not throw a flag, and C.J. Stroud threw a pass at Xavier Hutchinson, who was on the ground. Officials threw a flag on Kenny Moore for an 8-yard defensive pass interference penalty.

Replays showed Moore did not interfere with Hutchinson.

Four plays later, Nico Collins was in the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown.

It appeared Ka’imi Fairbairn’s extra point was wide left, but officials called it good. Houston leads 20-13 early in the fourth quarter.

Stroud is 20-of-33 for 233 yards and an interception.

Officials called a 32-yard pass interference penalty on Texans safety Calen Bullock on third-and-19 from the Houston 44. There is no doubt Bullock grabbed the hand of and interfered with Alec Pierce. But Daniel Jones’ pass landed so far out of bounds that it was uncatchable.

CBS did not have its rules analyst comment on the penalty.

On the next play, Jones hit Tyler Warren for a 12-yard touchdown, and Michael Badgley’s PAT has tied it 13-13. Badgley missed his first extra point when it hit the upright, which is why the Colts don’t have the lead.

Jones is 12-of-21 for 173 yards and two touchdowns. Pierce has three catches for 56 yards, and Josh Downs has added two catches for 44 yards.

The initial diagnosis on Colts cornerback Sauce Gardner is a calf strain, Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports.

Gardner will undergo further medical testing on Monday.

His Achilles does appear intact, per Pelissero, so the team has optimism that Gardner avoided a major injury.

Gardner was injured on a non-contact play while covering tight end Cade Stover on the Texans’ second play from scrimmage.

He is on the sideline in street clothes and wearing a walking boot on his left leg.

Gardner has 13 tackles and two passes defensed for Indianapolis this season.

The Texans, who led 10-6 at halftime, have padded their lead to 13-6 on a 43-yard Ka’imi Fairbairn field goal. They had a first down at the Colts 14, but Colts defensive tackle Adetomiwa Adebawore sacked C.J. Stroud on third down.