The Houston Texans took it on the chin with a 38-20 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 7, but there were areas of improvement.
The offense brought a 20-17 lead on the road into the fourth quarter. The Texans offense also gave up just one sack and had one turnover.
Quarterback Davis Mills met with reporters Wednesday and revealed where he thought the offense took some progressive steps against the Raiders.
“I think the biggest thing is we did well as an offense this past Sunday was about converting those third downs, which allowed us to keep drives alive and move down the field,” Mills said.
Houston went 9-15 on third down along with a 1-2 fourth down conversion rate. Ultimately the Texans were able to possess the ball for 29:17, which gave them a little more of a chance to move the ball and put points on the board despite the wheels coming off in the fourth quarter.
Part of what made third down manageable, according to Mills, was how the Texans were able to work on first and second downs.
Said Mills: “I think going into that, found check downs early on first and second down which allowed us to stay in third-and-manageable for the first part of the game. Guys were making plays on the edges and allowed us to convert pretty easily.”
The Texans will have a handful with the Tennessee Titans Sunday at 3:05 p.m. Central Time from Nissan Stadium. The Titans are the stingiest defense in the NFL with a 27.8% third down conversion rate.