Quarterback Davis Mills and the Houston Texans are struggling this season and this weekend was no different, with a 24-16 loss to the New York Giants. The loss puts them at 1-7-1, the worst record in the entire NFL.
Mills is not the only one to blame for the defeats, but he is certainly not playing at an exceptional level either. Despite Mills’ shortcomings, head coach Lovie Smith does not plan to bench his QB.
“I just don’t think it’s time,” Smith told reporters on Sunday, via NFL.com. “Simple as that. Quarterback position’s a little bit different.”
The Texans struggled to get first downs in the first half against the Giants, which is consistent with how their season has gone. They have a first down percentage of just 28.4%, the third worst in the league. They only have three rushing touchdowns this year, the worst in the league, and are in the lower tier for nearly all offensive categories.
Smith continued commenting on the team’s issues, saying, “You’ve got to sustain drives in order to see exactly what the game plan’s supposed to be. And we weren’t able to do that.”
The second half was a lot better for Mills and company, but one issue with the Texans is their lack of playing 60 minutes. They are either trying to catch up or slow down and let the opponent get too far ahead, and neither is a recipe for success.
In long yardage situations, Mills often attempts to go for it all at once and makes questionable decisions that lead to interceptions, like what happened in the fourth quarter on Sunday.
“I’ve got to be smarter with the ball there,” Mills said. “For second-and-25, we don’t need it all back at once. Trying to score, I can find the check down on that, get ourselves in third-down situations. [We’re] still in the red zone with a lot of plays at our disposal.”
Smith agreed, saying they need to know when to call an audible. “Sometimes when the deep route is covered, you check it down. We can’t do that. That’s not good enough. We’re trying to get to (manageable) third downs, so you have to push the ball at least that [distance].”
It may seem like this is a situation where benching the starter is a no-brainer, but the backup Kyle Allen, who went undrafted in 2018 and has little NFL experience, is not necessarily their franchise guy either.
The Texans look for their second win of the season against the Washington Commanders next week.
…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CBSSports.com Headlines…