Tag: davis mills

Texans OC Pep Hamilton deployed two quarterback system to create conflicts on defense

Houston Texans offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton says the purpose of the two quarterback system is to create conflicts for the defense.

The Houston Texans offensive staff was looking for a spark.

They tried with backup quarterback Kyle Allen replacing second-year Davis Mills from Weeks 12-13. Along with two more losses to add to Mills’ 1-8-1 record, Houston also generated eight total turnovers.

With the Texans turning back to Mills as their starter against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 14 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Houston needed to find a way to move the ball, especially since their top two receivers, Brandin Cooks and Nico Collins, were slated to be out with injuries.

“We talked about it as a staff,” offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton told reporters Dec. 15. “Just what can we do to give us a spark, to really help us on first and second down. Just to create conflicts for the opponent, create conflicts for the defense. To find ways to run the ball so that we can stay out of dreaded third-and-longs.”

The solution was to interchange Mills and backup Jeff Driskel, who was elevated from the practice squad the day prior. The two quarterbacks would substitute for one another even during series to help open up the offense.

Mills was efficient, going 16-of-21 for 175 yards and an interception, the result of a Hail Mary at the end of the game.

Driskel was 4-6 for 38 yards and a touchdown while also rushing seven times for 36 yards.

“It was good to see both Davis and Jeff go out and at times really do a good job of executing the offense,” Hamilton said.

What the two quarterback system did was also help the Texans find ways to put the ball in their playmakers’ hands. Houston generated 327 yards total offense, their first time since Week 10 they went over the 300-yard mark total.

“We just have to continue to do a good job of mixing both perimeter runs and interior runs, finding ways to just get the guys the football in space,” said Hamilton.

The Texans will be challenged as the 10-3 Kansas City Chiefs visit NRG Stadium in Week 15. The Chiefs are the 15th-best total defense and 18th-best scoring defense.

Texans QB Davis Mills talks about how he processes the game with Jeff Driskel

Houston Texans quarterback Davis Mills revealed how he and Jeff Driskel process the game together on the sidelines.

The Houston Texans deployed an uncommon strategy to move the football against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 14.

Although the Texans lost 27-23 to Dallas at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Houston made the Cowboys sweat. The Texans led 23-20 and had a goal-to-go with 5:37 to go in the game until the Cowboys managed to get the ball back and mount a 98-yard, game-winning drive.

Contrast that with Week 8 with the Tennessee Titans. Houston’s anemic offense fell down as far as 17-3 with 11:08 to go. Houston didn’t score a touchdown until 17 seconds left in the game with rookie Dameon Pierce catching a 3-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Davis Mills.

The Texans generated 327 yards total offense throughout the flow of the game — not in garbage time with the time well in hand.

Why Houston was able to move the ball more effectively was due to the dual quarterback approach. Mills started the game, and was an effective 16-of-21 for 175 yards and an interception, but backup Jeff Driskel saw considerable snaps and led Houston with 4-6 passing for 38 yards and a touchdown while carrying seven times for 36 yards.

Mills told reporters Tuesday that he and Driskel spend time on the sideline processing the game together.

“There’s a lot of back-and-forth on the sideline, making sure we were seeing things the same, kind of bouncing ideas off each other,” said Mills. “Obviously, our play calls weren’t the exact same, so we’re not seeing the exact looks.”

According to Mills, the collaboration with Driskel is especially helpful as he is getting live reps against the same defense.

“From the mind of the quarterback, a lot of times you can only relate to what other quarterbacks are thinking,” Mills said. “When you have somebody to talk to who’s also getting live reps, live bullets flying at them in the game, it helps.”

The Texans may continue their split time at quarterback as they take on the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday at 12:00 p.m. Central Time from NRG Stadium.

Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo says Texans are ‘a scary team’

Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo isn’t taking the Houston Texans lightly, and referred to the 1-11-1 club as “a scary team.”

The rest of the football world may be overlooking the Houston Texans, but Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo assuredly is not.

Spagnuolo soutlined some of the challenges the Chiefs will face when they take on the Texans Sunday at 12:00 p.m. Central Time from NRG Stadium in Week 15.

“”Listen, it’s a good football team,” Spagnuolo said via Charles Goldman of the Chiefs Wire. “Well coached; they still have (something to play for).”

Spagnuolo says he has “been on both ends” of being the frontrunner, as the Chiefs are with a 10-3 record, and being the doormat, as the St. Louis Rams were in 2011 when they finished with a 2-14 record and Spagnuolo was fired at the end of the year.

“Guys are prideful in this league,” said Spagnuolo. “They’re going to play. Nobody is going to walk out there and lay down. We don’t expect that. I’m expecting a really tough battle.”

The Texans are a blip on the Chiefs’ radar because of what they nearly pulled off against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 14. With Houston’s dual quarterback offense led by Davis Mills and Jeff Driskel, the Texans were two yards away from going up 30-20 with 3:27 to go in the fourth quarter and salting away the game.

Said Spagnuolo: “We’re going down there, they played Dallas really well and gained some confidence. They’ve got two quarterbacks now. They scored some points, they almost win the game. That’s a scary team. So, we better be ready.”

The last time the Texans beat the Chiefs was on Oct. 13, 2019, at Arrowhead Stadium.

Texans QB Davis Mills confident in run game if RB Dameon Pierce misses time

Houston Texans quarterback Davis Mills still has confidence in the run game if Dameon Pierce has to miss time with an ankle injury.

The Houston Texans will more than likely be without rookie Dameon Pierce when they take on the Kansas City Chiefs.

The fourth-round running back injured his ankle in the fourth quarter of the 27-23 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in Week 14. Pierce left AT&T Stadium in Arlington in a walking boot.

“It’s going to be tough not having him this week, but we have a lot of guys who are talented and ready to step up in that room and make plays,” quarterback Davis Mills told reporters Dec. 14. “It’s kind of that next man up mentality. We’re ready for anyone to go up and start taking those touches.”

The Texans made a move to their running back corps by waiving Eno Benjamin and signing Gerrid Doaks to the practice squad. However, it will more than likely be Rex Burkhead and Dare Ogunbowale who carry the load for Houston.

Mills says that working with the Texans’ running backs in practice every day is what engenders confidence in him they can get the job done.

Said Mills: “Being with them every day gives confidence. We know exactly what they’re capable of. We know they’re going to go out there and do the right thing. Both of those guys are very talented, and they’re able to win their one-on-ones.”

The Texans could also move the ball on the ground in a unique way with backup quarterback Jeff Driskel. The 6-4, 235-pound signal caller rushed seven times for 36 yards in the Week 14 loss, but his run-pass option plays sparked the offense.

Texans QB Davis Mills earned A-minus grade for outing against the Cowboys

Houston Texans quarterback Davis Mills earned an A-minus grade for his performance in the 27-23 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

The Houston Texans went back to Davis Mills in Week 14. They needed their second-year quarterback to lead the offense on the road against the Dallas Cowboys.

Mills split time with backup Jeff Driskel, who was elevated from the practice squad the day before the game. Nevertheless the former Stanford product went 16-of-21 for 175 yards and an interception — a desperation heave on the game’s final play — in Houston’s 27-23 loss to Dallas at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

According to Josh Edwards from CBS Sports, Mills’ performance was considered an A-minus in his Week 14 summation of young quarterback play throughout the league.

Summary: In an outing in which he split time with Jeff Driskel, Mills performed well, on the road, against the Cowboys defense. The arm talent was apparent, and there weren’t any egregious misses or bone-headed decisions.

Mills told reporters after the game that he thought he “played well for the most part.

Said Mills: “Obviously I want to go back and see a couple of things, but there might have only really been one throw that I missed to my standards, that was that slant to the middle of the field to [Phillip] Dorsett on maybe third and eight the first half. But other than that, I thought we played a clean game offensively. I’ve just got to try to find a way to get the ball to end zone on that red zone series when the defense gave us the ball back late in the game.”

Houston may continue to deploy the two-quarterback offense with Mills and Driskel. As long as Mills is able to stay efficient and lead Houston on drives ending in points, it should help him develop over the final four games.

WR Chris Moore says the Texans’ offense executed regardless of who was quarterback

Houston Texans receiver Chris Moore says the offense was simply executing regardless of who was the quarterback in Week 14.

The Houston Texans went with an unconventional style in their Week 14 tilt with the Dallas Cowboys.

Although second-year signal caller Davis Mills was named the starting quarterback leading up to the matchup, Houston mixed in backup Jeff Driskel, who was called up from the practice squad, to help move the ball in the 27-23 loss at AT&T Stadium in Arlington Sunday.

Mills had one of his more efficient games of the season as he completed 16 passes on 21 attempts for 175 yards. His lone interception was the result of a Hail Mary attempt on the game’s final play.

According to receiver Chris Moore, who talked with reporters Tuesday, the difference in Mills’ efficient play was simply execution on the offense’s part.

“I think it was just executing our plays and taking advantage of the opportunities we were given to be honest,” said Moore, who had a career-high 10 catches for 124 yards. “I don’t think there was anything too much different than that. It’s just another game where we executed better than we have been in the past. Like I said, we took advantage of the opportunities that were given to us. In the past, we haven’t been doing that as much. I feel like that’s just the biggest difference.”

Driskel had 13 snaps for the Texans. The former San Francisco 49ers 2016 sixth-round pick rushed seven times for 36 yards and also went 4-of-6 for 38 yards and a touchdown.

Moore says it didn’t matter who was under center; the offense was doing its job.

Said Moore: “I think it’s just us on the field executing. I think if Davis or Jeff were out there (the entire time), we would have still executed the same way.”

The Texans could go with the dual quarterback offense as Houston hosts the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday at 12:00 p.m. Central Time at NRG Stadium.

Texans almost got away from being No. 32 in Touchdown Wire NFL power rankings

The Houston Texans came so close to not being the No. 32 team in the latest Touchdown Wire NFL power rankings.

The Houston Texans almost proved to the NFL they weren’t the worst team overall — at least for Week 14.

According to Mark Lane from the Touchdown Wire, the Texans came close to getting away from the No. 32 overall ranking, but they weren’t able to finish off the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Dallas stuffed Houston on fourth-and-goal from the 3-yard line with 3:27 to go, and then marched 98 yards in 11 plays to win the game 27-23.

The Texans would have moved up further in the power rankings had they pulled off the upset of the Dallas Cowboys. Instead, Houston did what bad teams do, and that is fail to close out. Their goal-to-go sequence on their second to last possession that resulted in a turnover on downs rather than insurance points sums up the Texans’ season: inadequate personnel and bad play-calling to boot.

What could have been.

Houston is the last place team in the power rankings for the seventh consecutive week.

The Indianapolis Colts were on a bye and dropped one slot to No. 29. The Jacksonville Jaguars improved to No. 17 with a win over the Tennessee Titans. The Titans’ loss to the Jaguars dropped the AFC South leaders to No. 11, just one slot behind the 6-7 Detroit Lions.

Texans’ Lovie Smith can’t decide between his 2 awful QBs, so he’ll just play them both

“Davis and Josh are our quarterbacks,” Lovie Smith, probably.

When he took the Chicago Bears to Super Bowl 41, Lovie Smith often issued a familiar refrain to defend his then-starting quarterback Rex Grossman. As Grossman struggled through ups and downs (more of the latter), Smith would usually say, without fail, “Rex is our quarterback” as an indicator the Bears would not be making a change. Smith did not deviate from this script, and it essentially became a meme for what was then arguably the NFL’s best team on paper.

Roughly 16 years later, Smith has evolved as head coach of the Houston Texans. Instead of sticking with one inconsistent QB, he will ride with Davis Mills. And Jeff Driskel. That’s right. After having Mills and Driskel play an even amount of snaps (33) in an almost-upset of the Dallas Cowboys, Smith will keep platooning his quarterbacks against the Kansas City Chiefs this Sunday.

Good luck with that, sir.

 

Per a further report from the Houston Chronicle, Smith really seemed to appreciate what Mills and Driskel were able to accomplish in Dallas. The near-win couldn’t be that the Cowboys — definitely notorious for not being overhyped frontrunners — overlooked the one-win Texans, could it? It had to be, somehow, the pair of QBs barely combining for 200 yards passing and just one score while offering little groundbreaking with their legs. Why? Because Smith thinks the two-QB system keeps defenses on their toes:

“I thought it was effective,” Texans coach Lovie Smith said on Monday. “Two different flavors, and that’s always tough for a defense to prepare with what we were doing with them. As far as what we’re going to do this week going forward, we started evaluating and seeing what we need to do against another good division-leading Kansas City football team.”

If Smith actually believes this plan will work, I think I should make it clear that an old adage about having two-signal callers remains true and timeless. You know the one: “If you have two quarterbacks, you have none.” Because the overwhelming majority of normal (and good) teams generally want to keep the ball in the hands of their one, better quarterback instead of disrupting his rhythm and letting the other defense catch their breath.

Smith’s decision to keep running with Mills and Davis applies to that sentiment, but differently.

Usually, when a squad elects to platoon their QBs, at least one of the passers is clearly better and is just trying to win the job outright. In the case of these Texans, Mills is a former third-round pick now glorified game manager, while Driskel is on his fifth NFL team since being selected in the sixth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Therefore, if the Texans theoretically wanted to experiment and develop the two, I’m not sure why because there isn’t much brimming promise on hand.

The QB saying for the Texans and Smith should be more, “We don’t even have one quarterback, but we’re playing both anyway.”

With such a confounding plan continuing, at least the Texans — who currently own the No. 1 overall pick in April’s draft — can take solace in knowing that Bryce Young will likely be on the way. Which isn’t to say Smith is tanking. For anyone unfamiliar, this is just how he coaches football.

When/if Young is wearing a Texans jersey, perhaps Smith will stay true to his roots, saying, “Bryce is our quarterback.” I have a feeling he’ll only have to say it once, at most.

Texans RT Tytus Howard pleased with game plan against the Cowboys, laments not scoring on goal line

Houston Texans RT Tytus Howard liked the way the offense moved the ball in Week 14, but says they need to finish their goal-to-go opportunities.

ARLINGTON — Heading into Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys, the Houston Texans did not have many positives going their way.

Second-year quarterback Davis Mills was inserted back into the offense after being replaced for two games by backup Kyle Allen due to ineffectiveness. The Texans didn’t know how Mills would respond to being placed on the bench.

The offensive line had a tough job ahead of them, going up against one of the top-rated defenses in the league, led by linebacker Micah Parsons who, at times, can be hard to contain once he gets a running start.

Two offensive weapons in starting wide receivers, Brandin Cooks and Nico Collins, were ruled out of the game due to injuries. That would leave players like Chris Moore and Phillip Dorsett to pick up the slack, even though they did not have a lot of first-team reps with Mills.

The list could go on and on with the number of issues the Texans would face heading into AT&T Stadium.

Yet, with just over three minutes left in the game, they had a lead on the team that most have predicted to make it to at least the NFC Championship Game.

Houston was able to stay in the game offensively by deploying a two-quarterback system with Mills and third-string backup Jeff Driskel. They alternated in and out of the game, keeping the Cowboys’ explosive defense guessing what would happen on each snap.

The Texans held a six-minute advantage in time of possession over the Cowboys in the 27-23 loss, mainly due to the job done by the offensive line.

For the second consecutive game against an elite NFL defense, they provided running lanes for rookie running back Dameon Pierce, who finished the game with 78 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries before exiting the game with an ankle injury.

Houston held an opponent to no sacks in back-to-back games, which is very hard to do, especially when the Cowboys are second in the NFL with a total of 48 sacks.

“I think we had a good game plan coming in,” said Texans offensive lineman Tytus Howard. “We wanted to establish the run first and then go to the pass. We did that good early. I think, as a front, we played hard, and everybody on our offense played hard. We kept them from getting to the quarterback, but in the end, on the goal line, we have to score.”

With a 23-20 late in the fourth quarter, the defense forced a turnover on Dak Prescott inside the Cowboys’ ten-yard line, giving the offense a chance to increase the lead. The Texans got the ball down to the Dallas one-yard line before turning it over on downs after quarterback Jeff Driskel was tackled before crossing the goal line.

The Cowboys would get the ball back and go 98 yards to score to put them up by four points. Houston got the ball back with under a minute left, but a failed hail mary pass was intercepted by a Dallas defensive back and ended the game.

Howard believes that the offense may have found some continuity in the offensive game plan in the future.

“If it is one thing I can take forward into the next game and the rest of the season, is that people say we have one of the worst offenses in the league, and I don’t believe that,” said Howard. “The Cowboys have one of the top defenses in the league, and I think we ran the ball and moved the ball up and down the field all game. If we can do it on them, we can do it on anybody else. So, we just have to have that mindset every week.”

Two quarterback solution did not affect the Texans’ receivers against the Cowboys

Houston Texans receivers say that they experience no disruptions working with QBs Davis Mills and Jeff Driskel against the Dallas Cowboys.

The Houston Texans took a unique approach to moving the ball against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 14.

After going 0-2 with Kyle Allen, and producing eight total turnovers in that span, the Texans went back to Davis Mills as the starter. However, the Texans gave backup Jeff Driskel significant snaps throughout the game.

The signal caller, who was elevated the day before from the practice squad, complete 4-6 for 38 yards and a touchdown while also contributing seven carries for 36 yards.

The offense generated 327 total yards, the most since Week 10.

While most of the Texans’ receiving corps had never played with quarterbacks splitting snaps throughout a 60-minute game, the experience was not jarring in terms of keeping them out of rhythm.

“As a receiver, you just get open and if the ball is around you, you’ve just got to catch it,” said wideout Amari Rodgers, who had a career-high four catches for 57 yards and a touchdown. “To me, it doesn’t matter who’s out there at quarterback. I’ve got to do my job and get open. If the ball comes my way, I’ll make the play.”

Rodgers caught a 28-yard touchdown pass late in the first half that wasn’t even supposed to go his way, but Driskel saw Rodgers could make a play on the ball against safety Donovan Wilson.

“They both did a great job today, Driskel and Davis, they did a great job handling the game management and keeping the offense rolling,” said Rodgers. “They did a great job. Maybe we will keep rolling with that because they did a great job.”

Mills completed 16-of-21 for 175 yards and his interception was the result of a Hail Mary attempt on the game’s final play to overcome Dallas’ 27-23 lead.

Receiver Chris Moore, who had 10 catches for 124 yards, called the operation with two quarterbacks “seamless.”

Said Moore: “I feel like we did a good job of practicing that all week and we went out there and executed the game plan pretty well.”

The Texans fall to 1-11-1 with the loss and host the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 15 at NRG Stadium.