Houston Texans quarterback Davis Mills needs to have his best game of the 2022 thus far on Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 4 for Houston to win their first game of the season.
It is simple as this … the Texans’ offense will go as far as Mills can lead them at the quarterback position, and now it the time to start seeing the improvement needed for the Texans to keep taking steps forward in their rebuild.
When Mills and the rest of his Houston teammates faced the Chargers last season they shocked the NFL by defeating Los Angeles, 41-29 in Houston during their December game. That ended up being the final win of the ’21 season for the Texans, moving them to 4-11 at the time of the victory.
The key in that game was the defense of the Texans had two interceptions, the rushing game showed up for the first time basically all season, and Mills had a quality game with a 21-of-27 performance for 254 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
This season through three games Mills is 62-of-107 (57.9 percent) for 662 yards with three touchdown passes and two interceptions. Mills hasn’t been the worst quarterback in the NFL this season, but he’s not reached the level he was playing at the end of last season either.
Texans QB Davis Mills needs to take a step forward in Week 4
Sure, this is only Mills’ second season in the NFL, and his first with Pep Hamilton as his offensive coordinator and not just his QB coach, but these two still don’t seem completely on the same page yet when it comes to play calling and the offense making the plays as an entire unit.
Some in-game situations have let fans shaking their heads in confusion this season, but that’s in the past and the best thing to do is look towards the future and seeing Mills have his best game of the first month of the season in Week 4.
Mills is capable of having a repeat performance of last season, and if he can do so — with Dameon Pierce and Rex Burkhead at running back — the offense of the Texans can achieve what they did last season and score enough points to defeat the Chargers.
For Mills to be successful he needs more help from wide receivers not named Brandin Cooks, but it is also the responsibility of Mills to get the rest of the receivers, tight ends and running backs involved with the passing game more than he has this season.
The defense will need to have another strong game with Derek Stingley Jr. and Jalen Pitre facing Los Angeles for the first time in the careers, but if the two rookies can play strong, and Mills plays up to his overall talents, then a first win of the ’22 season can happen on Sunday.
Mills playing well is the most important part of the equation, and if he plays like he did last season Houston has an excellent chance to leave NRG Stadium as winners in Week 4, if not then Houston will suffer another loss.