Texans' O'Brien questions replay system after Hopkins TD called back

The NFL's replay system - or lack thereof, in this case - was again at the center of controversy in Monday night's game in Mexico City between the Houston Texans and Oakland Raiders.

Texans' star wideout DeAndre Hopkins had a 60-yard touchdown brought back because the line judge ruled he'd stepped out of bounds. And because plays ruled dead aren't reviewable, the Texans were unable to challenge the call, which stood as a 24-yard gain.

Head coach Bill O'Brien refrained from criticizing the officials too much postgame, but wondered how, with all the technology at the league's disposal, incidents like this still happen.

"Was Hopkins out of bounds on that play? No," O'Brien said, according to NFL.com. "So like, look, I'm not going to sit up here and get fined, I'm just a third-year coach in the NFL. But I think we really got to look at all of those things. You know, we got all of these cameras, and we can't get that right. And I don't think Hopkins was out of bounds."

Broadcast shots appeared to show that Hopkins stayed in bounds, though still angles did seem to show his heel touching the white of the sideline:

NFL senior vice president of officiating Dean Blandino attempted to explain the ruling.

"The heel (right foot) appears to be in the white," Blandino said of Hopkins' run. "It's not right down the line, so it's not definitive, but we certainly can't say that he's obviously in-bounds from this angle ... it's not definitive either way."

With plays that don't have definitive evidence either way, it's understandable that mistakes from officials will happen in real time. However, there's an argument for letting the play reach its conclusion, avoiding a scenario like this, where officials are unable to take a second look.