Tag: Pep Hamilton

Texans QB Davis Mills struggles in 34-24 loss to the Chargers

Houston Texans quarterback Davis Mills had his troubles in the 34-24 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 4.

The Houston Texans (0-3-1) entered Sunday’s game with optimism regarding potentially grabbing their first win of the season over an injured Los Angeles Chargers squad. Second-year quarterback Davis Mills has always played better at home than on the road and just last year flashed great potential during the team’s 41-29 upset of Los Angeles that had knocked the Chargers out of the playoffs.

Things didn’t go quite as well this time around for Mills.

The Stanford product finished 26 of 35 for 246 yards while throwing 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions during the 34-24 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. It was a game of highest highs and lowest lows for Mills as he still vies to prove that he could potentially be the next franchise signal caller for Houston.

The game opened up with a poorly thrown Mills pass that soared over the head of Nico Collins and into a waiting Chargers defensive back. It was a continuation of the down field struggles that have seemingly plagued the Texans offense all season.

Dameon Pierce broke off a 75-yard touchdown run in the second quarter but the Houston offense was so stagnant at one point that the Chargers led 27-7. Whether it was because of penalties or poor throws from Mills himself, Mills and the offense were largely unable to move the ball until the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter featured the prettiest drive of Davis Mills career where he found Collins soaring down the field in-stride for a 58 yard-gain before delivering an 18-yard strike to Brandin Cooks for the touchdown to bring the score to 27-21. It was the two-man game between Cooks and Collins that many fans had been hoping for all-season.

Ultimately, the offense was unable to finish their comeback. Down 34-24 at the end of the fourth, Mills threw a sky ball on 4th & long that resulted in his second interception of the game.

Houston remains one of two teams in the entire league that is yet to win a game and Mills has yet to do anything that would give evidence of deserving a second full season under center for the Texans. The anemic Texans offense still struggles to consistently perform in any facet of the game beyond trusting Pierce to put the team in favorable situations on 2nd and 3rd down.

They’ll face the divisional rival Jacksonville Jaguars next week in what will be a pivotal contest entering their early season bye week. Davis Mills will have to improve and do so against one of the NFL’s most ferocious pass rushing teams.

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Texans OC Pep Hamilton says experience will help QB Davis Mills, other young players

Houston Texans offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton believes that more experience will help QB Davis Mills and other young players flourish.

The Houston Texans are 0-2-1 on the season, and while the frustration with the team is understandable, the reality is the AFC South club is a young team.

The poster boy for the youth of the Texans is quarterback Davis Mills. While the 2021 third-rounder from Stanford is technically in his second season in the NFL, Mills has only started in 14 of his 16 games played — not even a complete season in today’s 17-game NFL, whichever way it is sliced.

Nevertheless offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton believes that Mills’ best bet to improve is through experience.

“You can’t teach experience,” Hamilton told reporters Thursday. “I’ll continue to say that. At the same time, I think the more he plays, the more all of our young guys play, they’ll have a reference point for how to handle different situations even better the next time that they have to function in that space. He’s working at it just like all our guys and we’ve got to find a way to go out and beat the [Los Angeles] Chargers.”

The Chargers were one of the two teams Mills beat in his rookie season when he compiled a 2-9 record. The Texans host the Chargers in Week 4 for a noontime kickoff Sunday at NRG Stadium, and Mills has an opportunity to gain plenty of experience as he leads an 0-2-1 squad against a desperate 1-2 club tryin to keep pace in the competitive AFC West.

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Chargers’ reasons for optimism vs. Texans in Week 4

Here are four reasons why the Chargers should feel optimistic about winning when they face the Texans.

Despite the week the Chargers have had, there are still reasons to believe this is a good football team. Justin Herbert is Justin Herbert. Derwin James and the secondary have been incredible. Khalil Mack is playing better than he has in years.

Here are four reasons to be optimistic that the remaining stars can carry them to victory against the Texans on Sunday.

Run defense woes

The Texans just let Chicago tear them up for 281 rushing yards on seven a carry, and that came after David Montgomery left the game early. Khalil Herbert had the best game of his career, and while the Bears ballcarrier is a talented player, the performance has just as much to do with Houston’s limp run defense as it does Herbert’s talent. If there was any week for the Chargers to figure out their running game, this is it. Austin Ekeler’s usage has been bizarre this season, as has the lack of touches for Joshua Kelley, despite the flashes he’s shown. If Los Angeles lets both of them grind Houston into a paste, there’s no reason they can’t get things back on track.

Pass game desynchronization

To put it politely, Davis Mills and offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton have not been on the same page to start the season. Mills has hardly targeted any of his wide receivers this season, mostly utilizing Rex Burkhead and the tight ends in the passing game. That’s a potential recipe for success against the Chargers since it keeps you away from Asante Samuel Jr. and JC Jackson on the outside, provided the latter plays. However, Mills has also shown a propensity to turn the ball over in year two in the NFL, and his lack of progression as a player is certainly something to keep an eye on. Los Angeles has been a solid pass defense through three games, especially by disguising coverages pre- and post-snap. Against a young QB like Mills, that could be enough.

Inability to finish games

Houston’s total point differential is -10, a reflection of two one-score losses and a tie with Indianapolis. They’ve led or been tied in the fourth quarter and have found a way to lose in all three of their games. Against the Colts, they blew a fourth-quarter lead and couldn’t convert in overtime. They couldn’t score a touchdown against Denver, losing 16-9 despite a stellar performance from their defense and another fourth-quarter lead. Davis Mills threw a backbreaking interception to Roquan Smith on a tipped ball that set up the Bears to kick a game-winning field goal deep in the fourth quarter on Sunday. That’s how Houston has fallen to 0-2-1. Even if the Texans can take a lead into the final period, they’ve proven the game is far from over until the final whistle.

Light schedule

Houston has played the seventh-easiest schedule so far this season, per DVOA. Denver is the only top ten team by DVOA they’ve played, and we just talked about how the Texans didn’t score a touchdown in that game. Chicago is 23rd in DVOA; Indianapolis is 30th. Yet, Houston is winless through three games, standing at 25th in DVOA themselves. The fact that they haven’t converted against two bad teams is a bit of an indictment on their talent: Houston has young players with upside on both sides of the field, but they’re a ways off from fielding a consistently competitive team. On paper, even with the injuries, LA should be a much better team.

Texans QB Davis Mills taking OC Pep Hamilton’s advice to ‘see a little, see a lot’

Houston Texans QB Davis Mills says that OC Pep Hamilton says “see a little, see a lot,” and that is the philosophy Mills has been operating under.

One of the differences between the Houston Texans offense under Tim Kelly and the new system with offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton is how much responsibility falls upon the quarterback.

In Kelly’s system, Davis Mills had to taken in as much information as possible to run the offense. With Hamilton’s run-heavy scheme, the quarterback doesn’t have to devote as much time to figuring out where to go with the football.

“I think as an offense, now we’re running it, they don’t put a ton on the quarterback, so, I don’t need to go out there and confuse myself and try to see too much,” Mills told reporters Sept. 29. “I need to see what I need to see. That’s pretty much it. Pep always says, ‘see a little, see a lot. If you see a lot, you don’t see anything at all.'”

Mills seemed to see a little “less” in the Texans’ 23-20 loss to the Chicago Bears in Week 3. Although Mills threw two interceptions, he did have his highest completion percentage of the season at 62.50%.

“Going out there and being efficient with what I need to look at,” Mills said. “Obviously, you can see a lot more when you go back and watch the film after the game, but I think we’re in a good spot right now. We’ve just got to keep progressing the way it is.”

The Texans have the Los Angeles Chargers coming to NRG Stadium for a Week 4 Sunday at 12:00 p.m. Central Time. Although the Texans are 0-2-1, the tilt with the Chargers represents a chance for Mills and the offense to keep growing. Week 4 will reveal just how much Mills is seeing when he operates the offense.

How Texans OC Pep Hamilton can still be a quality coaching candidate in 2023 hiring cycle

Despite the Houston Texans’ 0-2-1 start and subpar offensive performances, OC Pep Hamilton can still finish as a strong coaching candidate.

Houston Texans coach Lovie Smith is banking the offense on Pep Hamilton.

The former Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach sought another opportunity to work with Hamilton after he left Chicago as their quarterbacks coach from 2007-09 to work under Jim Harbaugh and Stanford in 2010. With Smith being promoted to coach on Feb. 7, and Hamilton the resident quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator, Smith elevated Hamilton to offensive coordinator.

Part of the reason is to also develop more Black coaching candidates in the NFL.

“You look at our league,” Smith told reporters at his introductory presser on Feb. 8. “Of course, the majority of our league is with Black athletes. You can find qualified Black candidates, candidates that worked themselves up. Once you look at our staff once it’s all done, completed, you’ll see there’s not just talk going into that. We have a lot of young, Black coaches that are going to do great things, of course, Pep Hamilton being one of them.”

According to Peter King from NBC Sports, Black assistants deserve consideration, especially given the hiring cycle over the past couple years has included candidates getting jobs simply for working with Sean McVay.

I think the story is good and smart because it takes away the passion and strong opinions on this issue and boils it down to hard facts. I believe it will be a good contribution to the coaching carousel this winter. I’m not saying it’s wrong for owners to continually look for “the next Sean McVay,” because McVay has spawned success in other coaches like Matt LaFleur and Zac Taylor and perhaps Kevin O’Connell. But owners can’t think just because a guy rubbed shoulders with a boy wonder like McVay that he’s going to be a great NFL coach.

King makes the case that if the Texans offense is even mediocre in 2022, given that it was horrendous in 2021, it will technically be a marked improvement and one that should warrant Hamilton for consideration as a coach in another NFL city.

The shame of the hiring process, or at least part of the shame is that if, say, Houston offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton builds a top-15 offense piloted by the 67th pick in the 2021 draft, Davis Mills, that should probably count as an outstanding coaching job, and should catapult him into the running for head-coaching jobs. Why? Because Hamilton took over the 30th-ranked team in scoring coming off an 8-25 stretch over the past two years. He’s coming from further back in the back than wherever the latest McVay-touched assistants would be coming from.

There is some improvement to the Texans’ offense. For the first time this season, Houston got over the 300-yard mark for total offense in the 23-20 loss at the Chicago Bears. The Texans’ bigger problem is their 0-2-1 record, which will loom large over Hamilton’s chances if it worsens.

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Texans Talk Podcast: Can Houston finally get a real win against the Chicago Bears?

The Houston Texans take on the Chicago Bears in Week 3. Can Houston get their first full win of the year when they take on the Bears?

The “Texans Talk Podcast” is back and this week hosts John Crumpler and Mark Lane discuss Houston’s chances to get their first full win of the season when they take on the Chicago Bears in Week 3 at Soldier Field.

Who deserves the blame for the offensive woes? Who needs to step up for the Texans to get a win? Can Week 3 be the game where RB Dameon Pierce finally bursts onto the scene?

Don’t miss the action at 12:00 p.m. Central Time from Soldier Field.

Be sure to subscribe to the “Texans Talk Podcast” on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcast, and iHeart.

Davis Mills, Pep Hamilton are central to the Texans’ offensive struggles

Houston Texans offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton and quarterback Davis Mills each have portions of blame to shoulder for the sputtering offense.

There was a lot of hype surrounding the Houston Texans offense coming into the season. It was supposed to be more exciting than the past two seasons under the direction of former offensive coordinator Tim Kelley. The first two games have been very monotonous, and that is putting it nicely.

Houston failed to produce a touchdown in their 16-9 loss to the Denver Broncos. As a matter of fact, the Texans have not been celebrated in the end zone for over five regular quarters and one overtime period.

Although the season is still very early, with just two games being played, Texans fans must ask themselves will this pattern continue. Or is it a continuity issue that must be fixed between new offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton and quarterback Davis Mills?

Each played a part in the stall of the offense in the season opener against the Indianapolis Colts, producing only 25 yards in the fourth quarter and overtime. Sunday’s game was no different as the offense looked lethargic in the second half outside of two big plays downfield late in the fourth quarter.

For his part, Mills has been very indecisive late in games this season and even takes a long time to come off his first option in the pass routes, which was a trait he showed throughout training camp and preseason.

Against the Broncos, Mills missed many opportunities to get the ball to open receivers and only got the Texans in the red zone once. Hamilton tried to help Mills by cutting the field in half by giving him some rollout plays to get him out of the pocket, but he was still ineffective.

Even when the Texans defense forced a punt to get the ball back late in the fourth quarter trailing by seven points, Mills was inaccurate, not completing one pass on the final drive.

Hamilton must also shoulder a lot of the blame for the Texans’ inadequacies on the offensive side of the ball. His play calling through three quarters seems to be reasonably good, but it has been questionable once the final period starts.

The only flash we have seen from his playbook was a flea-flicker to start the second half of the overtime tie against the Colts that should have produced a touchdown had Mills been able to hit receiver Brandin Cooks in stride.

That play produced 33 yards, but it was the only exciting play the Texans had as Hamilton went back to running the ball, trying to protect a lead instead of creating more points.

One other obvious flaw in the play calling that has most fans and analyst scratching their heads is the absence of touches by the Texans’ tight ends. O.J. Howard flashed some of the athleticism that made him a first-round draft selection in 2017 by Tampa Bay by scoring two touchdowns in the first game of the season. On Sunday, he touched the ball once for seven yards. Add that to Pharaoh Brown’s three receptions and Brevin Jordan’s two, and the tight ends had a total of six catches for 34 yards.

“We’re not there yet,” said coach Lovie Smith about his offense. “It’s kind of simply that. We show flashes of what we can be. You’ve got to be able to pass the ball. In games, you’ve got to eventually come down to being able to pass the ball.”

Houston is only averaging 266.5 yards per game which ranks them 29th in the NFL. Their 14.5-point average in the first two games ties them for 28th in the league. To raise those numbers, Hamilton and Mills will have to do extensive film studies and get on the same page.

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Texans QB Davis Mills struggles to elevate offense in 16-9 loss to Broncos

Houston Texans quarterback Davis Mills had trouble elevating the offense in the 16-9 loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 2.

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In many aspects, things couldn’t have gone much better for the Houston Texans than they did on Sunday.

Opposing quarterback Russell Wilson went only 14 of 31 passing for the day while Denver’s offense absolutely sputtered to just 16 points. Rather than lean into their rushing game that was averaging 4.8 yards per carry, rookie coach Nathaniel Hackett frequently went to the passing game where the Texans held their own. This came in addition to a multitude of mistakes from Hackett that left Houston coach Lovie Smith looking far superior in the contest.

However, despite all of the greatness from Smith’s defense, it ultimately wasn’t enough for Houston as the team fell 16-9 in Denver. Almost all of that blame will fall on offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton and second-year quarterback Davis Mills.

Mills completed just 19 of his 38 pass attempts (50%) for only 177 yards with no touchdowns or no turnovers. Meanwhile, the offense as a whole struggled to generate first downs and played a game which will primarily be remembered for the mistakes.

Left tackle Laremy Tunsil was called for a crucial holding penalty on a play that would have seen Mills scramble into the red zone. Star wide receiver Brandin Cooks dropped a wide open touchdown on a day where he struggled with only four catches for 54 yards on 10 targets. The offensive line as a whole surrendered three sacks and was flagged for multiple penalties throughout the day.

Hamilton called an unremarkable game that likely leaned too heavily on the run. Mills wasn’t allowed to open the offense vertically until late into the game trying to orchestrate a game-winning drive and, at that point, was unable to hit the necessary throws. He made true on his promise to try to get receiver Nico Collins more involved but the second year wideout had just four catches for 58 yards on the nine targets that went his way.

All of these contributing factors cannot mask an ugly truth: Mills just wasn’t good enough.

Mills struggled to make necessary throws with velocity to the sidelines, took unnecessary sacks, and ultimately failed to engineer enough scoring drives during a game that the defense played more than well enough to win. It was the type of game that Houston will have to win if they ever want to be a playoff contender and Mills sadly failed the test.

Houston lacks the offensive playmakers to be a high caliber offense and generally needs everything to click perfectly and without mistakes in order to score big points. That did not happen today and some of the poor plays from Mills, and his own lack of risk taking, contributed heavily.

Mills still has 15 games, or 60 remaining quarters, with Hamilton to prove that he can serve as the Texans’ franchise quarterback. The former Stanford product will need to show an ability to elevate the offense on subpar days rather than be dragged down with it to discourage general manager Nick Caserio from looking elsewhere at the position.

Mills’ next chance will come against the Chicago Bears, Smith’s old team from 2004-12. The Bears also have another member of the 2021 NFL draft class in Justin Fields, who will provide a measurable contrast to Mills.

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Texans were confident TE O.J. Howard could play away from the ball ahead of Week 1

TE O.J. Howard showed enough in his abilities away from the football to let the Houston Texans know he was worthy of a Week 1 activation.

The Buffalo Bills gave up on O.J. Howard.

The AFC East club cut Howard at the end of preseason as NFL teams had to finalize their 53-man rosters on Aug. 30. The former Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2017 first-round pick from Alabama needed to clear waivers before the Bills could sign him back to their practice squad.

One of the advantages of the Texans having finished 4-13 last year is they are No. 3 in the waiver wire priority — kind of like how they were the No. 3 overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft. As such, the Texans were able to make a claim on Howard and only have to wait for him to pass by the Jacksonville Jaguars and Detroit Lions.

Even with the fourth preseason game nixed since 2021, Howard going from being signed by Houston to playing in Week 1 10 days later was quite a time crunch. Nevertheless Houston believed Howard was up for the challenge.

“First off, you have to be able to play without the ball, regardless of what position you play as a skill player in our offense,” offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton told reporters Sept. 15. “We wanted somebody that was a willing and able blocker that could also at times release from the line of scrimmage, run routes and make the plays down field. He was able to do that in the first game as a Texan.”

Howard did not disappoint as he caught two passes for 38 yards and a touchdown. The 6-6, 251-pounder was an effective red zone target for second-year quarterback Davis Mills.

“We were excited to see O.J. go out and make some plays for us, some big plays, catch two touchdowns and we feel good about the overall depth and talent that we have in our tight end group,” said Hamilton.

Houston takes on the Denver Broncos Sunday at 3:25 p.m. Central Time from Empower Field at Mile High, where Howard will have another chance to show how much at home he is in the Texans’ offense.

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Pep Hamilton says key for Texans giving RB Dameon Pierce more touches correlates to more first downs

Houston Texans offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton says that if they can get more first downs, it may mean more touches for RB Dameon Pierce.

One of the most anticipated aspects of the Houston Texans heading into Week 1 was the debut of Dameon Pierce.

However, the fourth-round running back truly looked like a tepid rookie with just 11 carries for 33 yards and a 6-yard catch. Rex Burkhead, who Pierce was supposed to supplant on the roster as RB1, led the team with 14 carries for 40 yards and caught five passes for 30 yards.

According to offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton, the key to getting Pierce more involved against the Denver Broncos will involve sustaining longer drives.

“We just have to get more first downs,” Hamilton told reporters Sept. 15. “We need more opportunities to just run more plays in general. For us, we want to start faster. We want to finish fast as well. We want to finish the way that we always talk about finishing, and that’s with the ball in hand, in a victory formation, but that didn’t happen.”

The Texans had a paltry 20 first downs — at least compared to the Indianapolis Colts’ 33. While passing will more than likely be the majority of first downs in today’s NFL, the Texans’ four first downs by rush were still putrid for a run-heavy team.

“We started that game, we went three-and-out, missed opportunities on third down for whatever reason and that just affects the overall volume of runs and plays that you’ll run over the course of a game,” said Hamilton.

The Texans will have a chance to get the run game going against the Broncos in Week 2 at Empower Field. Houston kicks off against Denver at 3:25 p.m. Central Time.

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