(SportsRadio 610) - The most important thing the Texans must do coming off their bye week is to figure out what’s wrong with their disappointing passing game by the time they play at Las Vegas.
Under offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton, who’s calling plays for the first time, quarterback Davis Mills and the offense have regressed.
Because of rookie sensation Dameon Pierce, the NFL’s fourth-leading rusher, the running game has made substantial improvement while the passing game seems conservative and dated and designed not to make mistakes rather than to make big plays.
Under coach Lovie Smith, the defense is making significant progress. The Texans are 1-3-1 and surrendering 19.8 points a game – a decrease from 26.6 last season.
It’s not much, but in fairness to Hamilton, the offense averages 17.2 points, up from 16.5 in 2021.
So what seems to be the issue?
Let’s start with Mills appearing to be discombobulated. Hamilton doesn’t seem to trust Mills to throw the ball down the field.
Brandin Cooks averages 9.8 yards on 24 catches. Nico Collins hasn’t gotten the ball enough. He has 15 receptions and averages 18.1 yards. In his last two games, he has seven catches for 147 yards, a 21-yard average.
In other words, get the ball down the field more to Cooks and get the ball more anywhere to Collins.
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Compare what Mills accomplished last season under offensive coordinator Tim Kelly, who called the plays.
In 2021, Mills threw for at least 300 yards in four games. He had ratings of at least 100 against the Patriots (141.7), Chargers (130.6), Titans (128.5) and Rams (106.2).
Mills’ rating on passes of at least 20 air yards was 116.9, second in the NFL to Kirk Cousins’ 120.6.
Mills also was the NFL’s most efficient passer in the red zone, where he compiled a rating of 116.8. In the red zone, he had eight touchdown passes and no interceptions.
What’s happened to the Davis Mills who showed so much promise over the stretch drive of his rookie season? Did he get kidnapped by an alien spaceship and replaced by a body snatcher? It just doesn’t seem logical based on what we saw at the end of last season.
In the last five games of his rookie season, Mills threw for 1,258 yards, completed 68.4 percent of his passes, had nine touchdowns and two interceptions. Four of his five ratings were at least 92.2, including the 130.6 against the Chargers and 128.5 against the Titans.
Through five games this season, Mills has thrown for 1,048 yards, completed 62.6 percent, has five touchdowns and four interceptions. His rating is 80.6. He’s had one rating of more than 88.5.
The Texans have scored more than 20 points once in the 34-24 loss to the Chargers. Three times over the last five games in 2021, Mills helped the Texans score 41, 30 and 25.
Hamilton and Mills have to share the blame, and it’s up to them to do something about it. They’ve got a productive running game to take pressure off the passing game. All the maddeningly short passes are painful to watch. It’s a play-not-to-lose mentality.
The Texans have been in position to win every game in the fourth quarter, and they’ve done it once at Jacksonville. If Hamilton had trusted Mills more, or if Mills played with more confidence and threw with more accuracy, perhaps they could have pulled out another victory or two or three.
The Texans might try to defend their offensive strategy and claim their approach has helped them be in position to win every game, but every Texan fan knows that dog won’t hunt. Their shortcomings in the passing game have prevented them from winning a couple more games.
Now, the Texans have defensive issues, too, but the difference is Smith’s defense is getting better, but the passing game is getting worse. That’s not the kind of combination a team prefers when it’s trying to win. And the Texans are trying to win, despite what you may hear from critics who insist they’re going through the motions and hoping to get a high enough first-round pick to select a franchise quarterback.
Hopefully, the coaches are using the bye week to figure out what’s wrong with the passing game going into the next game against the Raiders, a down-its-luck team that’s been rolling snake eyes.
Can the Texans surprise the Raiders and escape Vegas with a victory? I wouldn’t bet on it.
John McClain can be heard Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday on Sports Radio 610 and Monday and Thursday on Texans Radio. He does three weekly Houtopia Podcasts for SportsRadio610.com. He also can be read four times a week on GallerySports.com.