Last season, NFL insiders marveled at how the Texans coaching staff remade its offense to accommodate rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson. Significant chapters of head coach Bill O’Brien’s classic Patriots-style playbook were replaced by hybrid college-pro style designs, with the Texans featuring a medley of misdirection and designed QB movement.
It was the most impressive on-the-fly coaching adjustments we’d seen. That is, until this year. In Baltimore, public discourse has first centered on the Joe Flacco vs. Lamar Jackson debate, and second on whether the first-round rookie quarterback can continue being an electrifying run-first quarterback without becoming the next Robert Griffin.