Tag: Pep Hamilton

Offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton intent on getting stars involved vs. Giants

Hamilton told reporters that he wants to make sure the #Texans’ offensive stars are involved in all four quarters against the #Giants

As the 2022 season has played out, the Houston Texans have had an exceptionally hard time finding consistency on offense, especially late in games where it seems that they lose any momentum they build in the first half. While this is to be expected for a young team going up against top-level talent on a weekly basis, offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton is intent on figuring out how to get his unit to play well in all four quarters.

In comments to the media on Thursday, Hamilton told reporters that he knows how the process of feeling out opponents works, and that he wants to find ways to ensure that his stars are staying involved in the offense even when the defense is keyed in on them. Adjustments, he explained, would be critical to the team’s success in late-game situations.

“I think just from our standpoint as a coaching staff, we have to understand that over the course of the game there is going to be adjustments made,” Hamilton said. “There’s going to come a time in the game where you have to give your elite playmakers a chance to go out there and make plays in those critical situations, and that’s the nature of the National Football League. You watch games from week-to-week and there’s a lot of different ways to win games, but it all starts with the playmakers. So, we’ve got to give those guys a chance to go out there and make plays for four quarters.”

Houston was without their top receiver Brandin Cooks against the Philadelphia Eagles last week but is expected to have the veteran wideout back for their matchup against the New York Giants on Sunday. His inclusion in the offensive gameplan could prove to make all the difference for the unit against the rising Giants, and if Hamilton’s comments are any indication, Cooks should be expected to be in a featured role as the Texans look to secure their second win of the season.

 

Texans QB Davis Mills and the offense struggle in 17-10 loss to the Titans

The Houston Texans offense had its struggles against the Tennessee Titans, and QB Davis Mills was the embodiment of them.

It was an all too familiar gameday for the Houston Texans.

Coming off their best offensive performance to date against the Las Vegas Raiders and facing rookie quarterback Malik Willis in his first ever start, there was optimism, as there are in most games, that Houston could make the game competitive. Once again, that optimism was fleeting. Derrick Henry steamrolled the defense for 219 yards and 2 touchdowns. Willis only attempted 10 passes during the 17-10 victory.

In a game that might have been winnable with the “bend don’t break” performance of head coach Lovie Smith’s defense, another familiar narrative ultimately ensured Houston’s downfall. The offense was, once again, inconsistent and incompetent.

Quarterback Davis Mills completed 17 of 29 passes for 152 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Meanwhile, the offensive unit as a whole mustered only 161 total yards as rookie running back Dameon Pierce was shut down and offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton struggled to find any consistent winning mechanism against the Titans defense. Additionally, the offensive line turned in one of their worst performances of the year as Mills was sacked 3 times and hit many more.

For the quarterback, it was an up and down kind of day that was almost a microcosm for how his sophomore campaign is playing out in 2022. The interception during the first quarter came on a play where tight end Brevin Jordan ran into another receiver and the timing of the entire concept was thrown off. When faced with obvious passing downs, Mills struggled to find matchups that were open and ultimately failed to move the chains as Houston went 2 for 14 on 3rd down.

The highs, as always, remained quite high for the Stanford product. Garbage time in the fourth quarter, when the Titans led 17-3, featured some familiar heroics from Mills and Brandin Cooks in an eerily familiar fashion to the end of the 2021 season. One play in particular featured Mills rolling out to his right and effortlessly flicking a 40-yard pass to Cooks. He would find Pierce on a checkdown the next play for Houston’s only offensive touchdown of the entire afternoon.

Ultimately, it was yet another showing of Mills failing to overcome the horrific infrastructure that Houston has surrounded him with in his second campaign. The absence of Nico Collins and some questionable play calling from Hamilton make it challenging not to question if the team is truly interested in putting their young quarterback in a situation to succeed. However, the flashes of talent thus far through 2 years of the Mills experience, or lack thereof, suggest that Houston is still likely to search for upgrades this off-season.

This Tuesday’s trade deadline could feature the departure of star wideout Brandin Cooks and a big change for the Houston offense. Mills will need to play significantly better on Thursday Night Football to have any hope of overcoming that loss partnered with the difficult matchup of the Philadelphia Eagles.

There’s still time for Mills to establish himself as Houston’s franchise signal caller before general manager Nick Caserio turns his attention to the 2023 NFL Draft. Things will have to be much better than these kinds of performances that were on display today against Tennessee.

Pep Hamilton says early-down situations will be key vs. Titans

After improving on third down last week, Pep Hamilton wants his players to execute on first and second down against the #Titans.

The Houston Texans are going to have to take the road less traveled to get back to the .500 mark before the 2022 season ends, and offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton laid out a simple strategy that may help the team stay out of sticky situations when his unit is on the field.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, he fielded a question about his thoughts on how the offense handles first and second downs. In his comments, he made it clear that these downs are crucial to the team’s success on third down too, and can help set them up for success in key moments of the game.

“It’s always important to have a high level of execution on early downs to stay out of obvious passing situations as often as you can,” Hamilton said. “Depending on the opponent, we just have to find ways to incrementally move the ball and try and avoid third down altogether. Our goal is to not have a third down. But if we do, we want it to be a situation where we feel like the defense is going to ultimately have to defend the run and the pass.”

The Texans can’t afford to become one-dimensional on offense. They have a burgeoning ground game behind the strength of rookie Dameon Pierce’s fierce running style, and if quarterback Davis Mills can continue improving his abilities as a passer, the unit may become a strength of the team in the near future.

Hamilton will have to maximize all of the available talent at his disposal against the Tennessee Titans in Week 8, and won’t have much of a margin for error against such a challenging opponent. Watch for these early-down situations to play a big role in the outcome of the game, and for Houston to get their second win of the season if they can navigate them properly.

Pep Hamilton explains his usage of tight ends in Texans offense

Hamilton said that the flexibility tight ends give his offense can be a major edge for the #Texans against opposing defenses

Tight end Jordan Akins had a strong showing for the Houston Texans last week against the Las Vegas Raiders, and offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton is looking to get him involved early and often against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday. In his comments to the media on Thursday, Hamilton pointed out a few different ways that he likes to use players at the position and said that the flexibility to run or pass in sets that feature tight ends gives the offense more options on any given down.

“Ultimately, we like giving the presentation to the defense that we can run and or pass the ball.  The biggest challenge for any offense and for the quarterback specifically is for the defense to really hunker down and defend one thing. When they put extra hats in the box to defend the run, we want to have the ability to attack them with the passing game. Be it the play action passing game, quarterback movements, whatever it is.

“It’s also the same concept when you talk about two safety coverages, middle open coverages as we call it, just having the ability in that situation to feel good about those guys who are pass receivers being able to play without the ball and win their matchup. Blocking really good defense ends that we face in this league play after play.”

It will take some nifty schemes to get Houston back above .500 before the season ends, and as the weeks pass by, it seems unlikely that the team is playing for anything except their pride. Still, in the early stages of a rebuild, the Texans can look to formulate different aspects of their game plan that might serve to help them in the coming seasons.

If they can start with some crafty usage of their tight ends, the reps they get in through the rest of their schedule may be the key to finding winning strategies next season after they’ve reloaded with more offensive talent.

Offensive lineman Tytus Howard on Davis Mills’ protection: ‘It is our job to make him feel comfortable back there’

Howard challenged the Texans’ offensive line to continue keeping Davis Mills clean, saying “It is our job to make him feel comfortable”

The score from Sunday’s loss against the Las Vegas Raiders would tell the average football fan that the Houston Texans were blown out at Allegiant Stadium. Individuals who watched the game will tell you it was very competitive until midway through the fourth quarter.

Throughout the game, offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton and quarterback Davis Mills had worked on an offensive game plan during the bye week to keep the Raiders’ defense off-balance.

If defensive coordinator Lovie Smith had done the same thing, the Texans would be facing the Tennessee Titans this Sunday with a two-game winning streak.

I digress.

Mills and Hamilton’s game plan had a mixture of run and pass plays that neutralized the Raiders’ defensive front seven, including defensive end Maxx Crosby whose disruptive play this season has caused a lot of havoc for opposing teams. He has six sacks on the season, which ranks him in the top five in that category.

But the plan could only work if Mills was given the time to operate in the pocket, which he could do with the offensive line’s play, which kept him upright by only allowing one sack for the entire game.

It was the third game this season that the offensive line only allowed one sack. Mills had his best game of the season with 302 yards passing and two touchdowns.

“It is our job to make him feel comfortable back there,” said Tytus Howard. The quarterback is always going to do his best to get the offense in the best position possible. He (Mills) is getting better every week.

For as much criticism as the offensive line gets on a week-to-week basis, they have been very good in pass protection this season, only allowing a combined 13 through the first seven weeks, which has them tied for tenth place in the NFL. Over the last 23 games, they have given up 57 sacks, equating to 2.4 per game. That isn’t bad for a unit in disarray due to injuries and roster changes.

Keeping Mills clean in the pocket is only half the offensive line’s job. The other responsibility is to create running lanes for rookie running back Dameon Pierce, and they are also very efficient in doing that. The fourth-round selection out of the University of Florida has rushed for over 500 yards in six games and has averaged 20 carries and 107 yards per game in his last three games.

Pierce, 22, believes that the Texans are on the brink of success. All they have to do is put together a complete game.

“This thing is coming together, and it is going to come together real soon,” Pierce said after the Sunday game.

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Will Dameon Pierce outrush Josh Jacobs on Sunday?

Our @JohnHCrumpler ponders who will have the better rushing performance in Week 7, #Texans RB Dameon Pierce or #Raiders RB Josh Jacobs?

Sunday’s upcoming game in Las Vegas features two of the NFL’s worst teams by record thus far in the 2022 season.

The Las Vegas Raiders, despite making the playoffs last year and bringing in offensive guru Josh McDaniels from New England, sit at 1-4 with their only win over the disastrous Denver Broncos. The Houston Texans fair slightly better at 1-3-1 due to a tie during the season opener against the Indianapolis Colts. However, their talent deficiencies are evident in the fact that Las Vegas sits as a touchdown favorite.

The Raiders are hamstrung by their defense which ranks 28th in points allowed while the Texans have been held back by an atrocious offense that ranks 26th in points scored. It’s a game that many will only be watching for fantasy contributions much more than for elite football or a playoff preview. However, one aspect of the game projects to be far from abysmal.

Josh Jacobs and Dameon Pierce, two of the NFL’s best-running backs thus far in 2022, will both showcase their hardnosed running style and talents.

Jacobs has paced the Raiders with 490 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns through 5 games while averaging an incredible 5.4 yards per carry. There were preseason concerns that he would be cast aside by McDaniels in favor of a committee but, instead, Jacobs’ dominance in both pass protection and running has turned him into a workhorse back.

Meanwhile, Pierce was the darling of the fantasy football preseason and has managed to live up to the hype for Houston. He leads the Texans with 412 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns and averages 4.8 yards per carry. The 4th round rookie has become the engine behind offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton’s offense and all accounts point to him carrying that role for the rest of the season.

Both running backs have garnered national attention for their propensity to plow through defensive backs and a level of ferocity running between their offensive line that has been somewhat lost in the era of a pass-heavy NFL. Does the interesting question become who runs for more yards during their showdown?

The Raiders enter Sunday’s game ranked 15th in total rushing yards allowed and allow just 4.0 yards per carry, good for 5th in the league. Meanwhile, the Texans rank 30th in total rushing yards allowed and allow over 5 yards per carry which is the 29th worst in the league. Jacobs certainly has an advantage in the defense he has to face.

The game script may also slightly favor Jacobs over Pierce. The Raiders have been able to score early and often this season and that could put them with an early lead over Houston. That type of game script could lead to Jacobs getting multiple carries each drive while the Texans are forced to lean on Davis Mills and pass in an attempt to overcome the deficit.

Ultimately, with two backs this talented, things could legitimately break either way. Jacobs may be a betting and logical favorite but Pierce has shown flashes recently that suggest he may just be ready to take over a game on the road. Fans will have to watch and see if it’s enough for head coach Lovie Smith to pick up his second win.

John Crumpler has written for the Texans Wire since 2019 and is a PFWA member. Follow him on Twitter @JohnHCrumpler

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Texans GM Nick Caserio says the offense could be better on third down

The Houston Texans needs to improve on third downs. That much is evident, and general manager Nick Caserio knows it.

The Houston Texans have shown enough throughout the first five weeks of the season that their problems are pretty identifiable.

The offensive side of the ball has some issues to work out, chiefly the biggest parts of playing offense: tallying points and moving the football. Houston is fourth-worst in the NFL in yards per game and fifth-worst at points per game.

“Offensive football is whatever you have to do win, move the ball and score more points,” general manager Nick Caserio told reporters Oct. 11. “Let’s not oversimplify it. In the end, that’s what it comes down to. Whatever you have to do to get that point, I’d say there’s somethings we’ve done. We’re looking at it here this week, there were some things that we’ve been better than others.”

One area where Caserio offered a chance for improvement was third down. The Texans are the second-worst team in the NFL at converting on third down at 29.2%.

“Third down could certainly be better,” said Caserio. “Third down is really first down, so early down production equates to third down. It’s all tied together. In the end, offensive football is about moving the ball and scoring points. How do you do that? Every team has their philosophy. Every team has a different approach.”

When it came to the quarterback play, Caserio wouldn’t mention Davis Mills by name, but he specified what the team is looking for out of their field general.

Said Caserio: “Quarterback position, I don’t care who the quarterback is, what team you’re talking about, we have to make the right decision, take care of the football, throw the ball accurately, and then be able to execute in critical situations. Pick a winner. That’s what your quarterback has to be able to do. Tell me the scheme, doesn’t matter the offense, doesn’t matter what you’re running. Those are things that are important. Offensively, move the ball, score points and get the ball in the end zone. In the end, it’s about points and that’s what matters.”

Offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton will have to figure out where the Texans get better at moving the ball and scoring points as Houston gears up for the final 12 games of the regular season.

11 potential Panthers HC candidates for 2023

We’re still about three months away from figuring out who will lead the Panthers into 2023. But, as of now, here are 11 possible candidates to succeed Matt Rhule.

On Monday, the Carolina Panthers called it quits on Matt Rhule—firing their head coach after an embarrassing three-season run. So, who’s next?

For now, it’s the man you’re about to see on the first slide of this here list. But he won’t be the only name under long-term consideration.

Here are 11 potential candidates who could be named head coach of the Panthers come 2023.

Texans QB Davis Mills can re-write the narrative in Jacksonville

Davis Mills has an opportunity to cast aside early struggles and silence doubters with a potential road upset in Jacksonville.

Things are not going as planned for the 2022 Houston Texans offense.

The team sits at 0-3-1 under their new head coach Lovie Smith and is the NFL’s only remaining winless team as the league enters the Week 5 slate of contests. For all the bright young players shining on defense such as rookies Jalen Pitre & Derek Stingley, the offense has been equally lackluster.

Houston’s offense ranks 25th in total points and total yardage and has come under fire for many components that had fans excited in the off-season. Star wide receiver Brandin Cooks, fresh off a 2-year contract extension at $19M per year, looks to have lost a step. Offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton has been criticized for a lack of offensive creativity and an over-commitment to veteran running back Rex Burkhead. Of course, this same criticism has extended to Davis Mills.

Mills appears to have regressed from the bright showings that peppered the end of the 2021 campaign. His completion percentage is down from 66.8% to 62% this season, his touchdown to interception ratio is down from 1.6 to 1.2, and his quarterback rating has plummeted from 88.8 to 80.4.

The occasional flashes of great play are still present, fans were reminded of Mills great talent late during the Chargers game on a back-to-back sequence where Mills fired 58-yards to Nico Collins and then a 16-yard touchdown to Brandin Cooks on the next play. However, these haven’t been enough to outweigh the general shortcomings of the offense and some other plays that have sunk the team.

Houston had opportunities to win against Indianapolis, Denver and Chicago late in the fourth quarter and in all three opportunities the quarterback was unable to complete a game-winning drive. The Bears game was particularly devastating as Mills was picked off by linebacker Roquan Smith when targeting Burkhead on a checkdown.

The drop-off in play in conjunction with the Texans’ status as the league’s worst team has led many to call for Houston to begin heavily scouting Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud and 2021 Heisman winner Bryce Young from Alabama. Some have gone as far as to say that Lovie Smith should consider benching Mills for backup quarterback Kyle Allen.

Despite the disappointment of the team’s first month and the potential greatness of some of the quarterbacks coming out, this remains a huge overreaction.

The book is far from closed on Mills and the opportunity to change the narrative around his status as the team’s potential franchise quarterback and the 2022 season is still present.

Mills has 13 more starts to prove to Smith and general manager Nick Caserio that he deserves another year at the position despite inevitably missing the playoffs due to the team’s overall talent deficiency. This week’s game against the 2-2 Jacksonville Jaguars represents an excellent chance for that campaign to begin.

The Jaguars look vastly improved in 2022, second-year peer Trevor Lawrence has emerged as the quarterback many expected him to be exiting Clemson and the defense looks like one of the league’s best. Jacksonville ranks 5th in the league in points allowed and 3rd in forced turnovers fueled by young pass rushers Josh Allen and Travon Walker.

The Texans were able to dominate Jacksonville last season, accounting for 2 of their 4 total wins on the season and baffling Lawrence during his disastrous rookie campaign. A year later, the win looks far from the guarantee it felt like last season.

Mills threw for 209 yards and 2 touchdowns during the team’s 30-16 win last year in Jacksonville and now returns for a chance to potentially save the narrative on the 2022 Texans before entering their bye week. A win would place Houston just one win behind Jacksonville and Indianapolis, firmly in the division hunt in a hilariously week AFC South. A loss would place Houston in the driver’s seat for the first overall pick and likely 12 miserable weeks of remaining football.

A huge showing for the second-year quarterback could not only dispel narratives around the team but also for himself. Historically, Mills has struggled on the road compared to how he performs at home. Many also question his relative talent compared to first round quarterbacks. A win on the road against ‘generational’ prospect Trevor Lawrence could go a long way towards quelling the debate that’s raging in Houston amongst the future of their offense.

Flashes of talent have never been the problem for Mills, it’s simply a matter of consistency. A road contest in Jacksonville represents an incredible opportunity to flip the narrative on people’s current perception of both the team at large and his status at quarterback. The upset could also signal that Jacksonville isn’t quite the AFC playoff contender that many have them penciled in as.

It will ultimately be up to Mills and Hamilton to dictate how they want their offense to work and to elevate them from their current status. Sunday should go a long way towards signaling if they’re capable.

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Blame game: Pep Hamilton is least at fault for Texans’ offensive woes

The Houston Texans offense has been subpar through the first four weeks. Don’t blame OC Pep Hamilton though.

If there was any word to describe the Houston Texans’ offense entering the 2022 season, it was hope. There weren’t nearly enough guaranteed positives to enter the optimistic territory but the foundation was set such that people could reasonably see how the Houston offense might produce.

Laremy Tunsil and Tytus Howard would serve as bookend tackles while first-round pick Kenyon Green elevated the run game from the outside. Brandin Cooks was back to go for another hopeful 1,000-yard campaign and would be complimented by second year wideout Nico Collins. Preseason sensation Dameon Pierce would take pressure off the passing game and hopefully create favorable second and third downs.

Amidst all that hope though, two men were truly the crux of why people wanted to believe and of how Houston would perform: quarterback Davis Mills and offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton.

Hamilton was a highly desired coordinator around the league and Mills flashed potential starter qualities at the end of 2021. The two spent the off-season raving about each other and their relationship was at the center of any discussion for why the Texans may be competent offensively under Lovie Smith.

Four weeks into the 2022 NFL season and it’s safe to say the marriage is thus far a disaster.

Houston ranks 27th in total offense, 24th in passing yards, and 25th in scoring amongst the rest of the NFL. Mills appears to have taken a massive step back from last season as one of the least accurate quarterbacks in the league and Hamilton has come under fire for his lack of pre-snap motion and his responsibility in that regression.

Hamilton in particular has taken a lot of ire from the fanbase early as the easiest scapegoat for why the team remains as the only winless club in the NFL. However, there remains a huge problem with this discourse in how some are viewing the Texans.

It’s just not right.

Through 4 games into the season, Mills has left an impossible amount to be desired. There was major concern amongst the beat that he would struggle to throw the ball down field and those concerns have manifested themselves in game. Mills is dead last amongst qualified quarterbacks in accuracy percentage between 11-20 yards at 37.8% according to game charters, during passes over 21+ yards he ranks dead last again at 25%.

His overall completion percentage ranks 27th in the league at 62% but that number is clearly boosted by virtue of his propensity to throw short, Mills’ 6.4 yards per attempt rank 31st out of 42 qualified passers. The film paints a similar picture of Mills failing to locate his receivers down the field and having a sprayed accuracy when he does find targets where he’s comfortable to pull the trigger.

 

Mills has had some strong showings, particularly at the end of the 34-24 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, but it’s seemingly no coincidence those come when the game is almost entirely out of reach. Quarterback play in the NFL is about making difficult throws both consistently and in the biggest moments, so far Hamilton’s quarterback has failed to do either of those.

Even when there are legitimate questions surrounding some of Hamilton’s personnel packages and play calls, they’re often completely ignored within the context of his superiors.

Coach Lovie Smith has preached that the team is a run-first offense many, many times. Hamilton’s offense, unsurprisingly, has been tasked to manifest the winning ideas of their coach. Hamilton often countered this with saying he wanted to be a “score-first” team, but at the end of the day Smith is the coach for a reason.

The philosophy has forced Houston into both conservative play calling for their young quarterback and personnel packages featuring full backs and multiple tight ends to try mask the deficiencies of the interior offensive line. It’s shocked Mills out of offensive rhythms that he appeared to best succeed in during last season.

For an offense that would want to lean so heavily on their running backs, it’s almost shocking that general manager Nick Caserio left Rex Burkhead as by far and away the team’s best passing back. Houston dealt out two of the largest running back deals in total money this off-season to Marlon Mack and Dare Ogunbowale yet neither ever took a carry for the Texans.

The deficiencies in personnel were nowhere more evident than in last Sunday’s loss. Multiple drops by receivers not named Collins or Cooks and penalties amongst the offensive line frequently killed momentum as Houston tried to score. Even when Mills broke through in moments to shine, the offensive supporting cast let him down.

Blame should be abound everywhere when it comes to the Houston offense. It’s certainly an odd picture when one of the local beat writers has to ask why the team’s best offensive player is primarily running only two different route patterns.

Collins genuinely does appear to be a much improved player from last season. Cooks, even if maybe a step slower, still looks like one of the most reliable weapons in the game. It’s Hamilton’s responsibility to find easier ways for Mills to get the ball to his best playmakers and that will have to improve as the season progresses.

However, an honest glance says that Hamilton is nowhere near the biggest problem facing Houston. Largely talent concerns across the board and the failure of their young quarterback thus far to deliver on the lofty expectations he set for himself stand out as to why the Texans have yet to explode offensively.

It’s only been a quarter season and the team improves every week. Hamilton, and even his young quarterback, deserve a little more grace as they settle into the year. Fans will have to watch and see how the offense improves.

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