Lovie on fourth quarter woes: “We are close”

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Charles Rex Arbogast/AP/Shutterstock (13419247l) Houston Texans coach Lovie Smith watches players warm up before an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears, in Chicago Texans Bears Football, Chicago, United States – 25 Sep 2022

Lovie on fourth quarter woes: “We are close”

Houston Texans head coach Lovie Smith understands the frustration of his team not being able to finish games. He also continues to stand by his standard answer of “we are close.”

Monday, Smith reiterated the problems that seem to plague his team every time the clock starts the fourth quarter:

“I know I’m the head coach, and I know I’m supposed to tell you, ‘Hey, this is the reason why.’ I just think if we continue – if we just had no production, I would really be concerned. I just look at yesterday; we were down there. That word ‘finish’ has been used an awful lot, but that’s the case. Untimely penalties, we are close. Don’t know exactly what the reason is, but we get another opportunity. That’s the good thing about where we are in our football season. The Commanders are coming in. They got a chance to see us up close and personal yesterday. Excited about seeing them. Excited about coming back home. When you go on the road and lose a tough one like that, you do want to come back home. Hopefully, we’ll correct some of those things this week.”

If you feel like you have heard this before, it is because you have. It seems Smith has comments like this following eight of the Texans’ nine games so far.

As a teacher and a coach, Smith refuses to concede defeat. He continues to strive for positive things to build upon. He also discussed how he and the coaching staff try to prepare the team to be able to get over the hump and finish strong:

“We just have a routine that we go through that we’ve been doing forever like most teams. It’s just not one thing, ‘hey guys, we haven’t finished, do this to finish.’ It’s just going through our practice the best you can right up until the last play. It’s no more than that. We all see the clock. You need to play your best ball at the end. It’s as simple as that. Defensively, yesterday, they didn’t score in the fourth quarter. Offensively, yesterday, we were down there quite a bit. Now just being able to complete the play at the end. It’s just not do this, and we finish. It’s a little bit bigger than that.”

The Texans will look to get back in the win column Sunday, November 20, when they host the Washington Commanders at NRG Stadium at noon.

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