Houston Texans: Lovie Smith’s latest comments show the tank is on

It wasn’t that long ago that I made a post saying that it’s not time to fire Lovie Smith. I still believe that to be the case, mainly because the goal of this season and the Houston Texans is no longer to try and win as many games as possible. The goal at this point is to “Blow it for Bryce” and get the first pick in the draft.

While the goal of getting Bryce Young is alive and well, and wins aren’t the most important aspect of the Houston Texans’ 2022 season anymore, the display by Smith after the team’s latest loss to the Washington Commanders is still breathtaking. Normally, breathtaking is a good thing but on Sunday, the comments that Lovie made postgame were breathtakingly bad. They were the kind of comments that seem to indicate a coach is getting fired. Or, they were the kind of comments that indicate that “Blowing it for Bryce” isn’t something that may or may not happen, but something the Texans are working on as we speak.

Sports Talk radio host Adam Wexler posted one exchange after the game that raised some eyebrows around the web on Twitter. In that exchange Lovie was quite confrontational with one reporter who wanted to know what the head coach planned to improve his team. To start winning some games.

The Houston Texans’ head coach said that in order to make things better, he would have to “put a better product on the football field.” When he was asked why that didn’t happen on Sunday, he became even more enigmatic. Or, if taken another way, he totally tipped his hand.

"“Because I didn’t think I should do it today.”"

Some might think he was being sarcastic and rude. I think he accidentally let the plan slip. Or maybe it wasn’t accidental. Maybe he’s trying to get reporters off his back by making it clear. The tank is on.

Lovie was then asked why the coaching staff wasn’t better and he responded, “I’m not going to tell you that.”

Finally, the whole “Blow it for Bryce” plan was laid out in living color, even if the Houston Texans head coach didn’t make it all that clear. When the report asked Lovie why he and his staff keep doing the same things over and over he said, “change for what?”

Any self-respecting fan, coach, beat writer and player who are not currently coma patients knows that you change to try and get better. You change to try and win the game.

Unless of course, that’s no longer the goal. Unless changing and making the team better only puts the real goal in jeopardy.

Houston Texans fans will get clued in sooner or later. The team currently has a 1.5-game lead in the race for dead last, thanks to the Las Vegas Raiders’ overtime win on Sunday afternoon. With seven games to play, that lead is not insurmountable, so Davis Mills continues to play despite horrid statistics. Pep Hamilton continues to call plays despite a truly putrid offensive attack.

But if things start to shift. If the Texans make a change a few weeks down the road, then it might be a thing where they know it’s ok to start trying to find the right cogs for the machine again.

Of course, it would seem that Lovie’s comments after the Commanders game mean something else. Houston Texans fans are in for quite a bit more suffering before the leadership even tries to make it even a little bit better.