The Houston Texans continued their slow march towards the 2023 NFL draft on Sunday afternoon with a horrific home outing against Washington. It’s been a long season of losses for Houston but, largely, coach Lovie Smith and the team have found ways to at least make the games look close.
The team’s streak of respectable losses and solid garbage time statistics for second year signal caller Davis Mills came to a screeching halt in front of a sparse Houston crowd. Mills finished the day 19 of 33 for 169 yards and two interceptions in addition to the team’s only touchdown of the day via a 4-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
The Stanford product put Houston in a hole early on the team’s first offensive possession trying to target wide receiver Brandin Cooks on a flat route. Cornerback Kendall Fuller read the route perfectly and the result was one of the easiest defensive touchdowns scored this season.
HELLOOOO @KeFu11er
📺 #WASvsHOU FOX pic.twitter.com/bBbKz1wHCU
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) November 20, 2022
In what certainly served as a poor omen for the rest of the afternoon, the team was shut out in the first half and had scored just three points leading into the fourth quarter. Offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton called a hyper conservative game plan that created no room for error while Mills was left struggling to attack the defense within the confines of plays called.
On top of Mills rough outing, the Houston offensive line gave one of their worst performances of the year. Defensive tackle Jonathan Allen had 2.0 sacks and Washington went on to combine for nine quarterback hits. In particular, first-round guard Kenyon Green struggled to deal with the interior pressure.
Cooks and fellow wideout Nico Collins combined for eight catches for 118 yards but the presence of Houston’s top two wideouts seemingly made little difference in the final outcome.
Overall, the game highlighted the struggles of Houston’s offense. The play calling is not built for today’s league and is uninspired, even relative to the confines of their own talent. The interior offensive line plays at a level that makes quarterbacking extremely difficult.
Finally, Mills does not appear to have the talent or decision making needed to overcome the myriad of errors placed around him.
Houston appears to be cruising towards a future where Alabama quarterback Bryce Young or Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud will be heavily in discussion for the team’s selection at first overall in the draft. Mills may need to win only two or three additional games to avoid that potential future, his play to this point just does inspire much confidence that it will be possible.
Houston takes on Tua Tagovailoa and the high-powered Miami Dolphins offense next week.
