It Might Be Time to Blow It All up and Start Fresh in Houston

The Houston Texans have some serious problems.

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If you’re new here, I don’t cover the Houston Texans. Sorry. Just wanted to be up front about that from the jump. I only took an interest in them because I thought they had some interesting pieces in place this season after what I’d call a “good” draft, and I thought that after being a scrappy team in 2021, they could take the leap to being a fringe playoff contender. The canned Jack Easterby‘s ass. I initially liked the promotion of Pep Hamilton. At the very least, I figured they’d be pests in the AFC wild card race. Even at a feisty 1-3-1, with competitive performances in every game on a stretch that could very well have seen the Texans start 4-1, I thought there was a chance they could get things going. This is a long-winded way of me saying, “oops – I called this team a dark horse and I was obviously wrong.” But, after two damning, crushing losses in a row, I’m not so sure this team even has a pulse any longer.

At this point, 1-5-1 may be a hole too deep to dig out of, but there were a couple of tells in Sunday’s loss to the Tennessee Titans that have me thinking it’s definitely over for the 2022 Texans. Namely, it certainly looked like there was a bit of quit in this team on both sides of the ball. The commentators alluded to the offensive line not putting up much resistance to Jeffery Simmons, who was routinely in the Texans backfield. Even Dameon Pierce talked about how they didn’t have an answer for that Titans defensive front. On defense, they did little to stand in the way of another 200-yard game from Derrick Henry. Business decisions were made, and while I’m sure guys were genuinely wearing down from the repeated blows, it sure looked like guys just didn’t have a lot of fight left in them by the 4th quarter (not saying I necessarily blame them either, mind you).

To me, it feels like guys think it’s a lost cause in that situation. It’s an indictment of this coaching staff because they don’t have guys willing to fight tooth and nail for them, but also because they aren’t able to find success with decent personnel. Last week, Sean Atkins was my guest on The Unofficial Titans Podcast, and he mentioned the rigidity of Lovie Smith, and how rigid he is with the defensive line. I’ve felt that at best, Smith was a stabilizing force for a franchise in transition. But, at worst, he’s a liability that the NFL has passed by years ago. If the Texans see it that way at all, uh oh – that could be the death knell for this franchise in terms of culture and character.

Then, there’s the Davis Mills evaluation. He finished 2021 as arguably the most promising rookie quarterback from last year’s class. It was him or Mac Jones. He can make all the throws in any NFL playbook, and with another offseason under him, the thinking was that he’d improve on some of the inconsistencies and become the franchise guy for Houston. Now that we have effectively a season and a half’s worth of sample size, I don’t know that he’s shaken the criticisms. On Sunday, there was some miscues where it looked like the timing was off. He and his receivers weren’t on the same page. He was staring down receivers at times, and generally being too predictable with the ball. Those tendencies haven’t evaporated, and if I were a Texans fan, that would give me pause before considering this guy “the future.”

There’s plenty of young pieces in Houston to build around. Pierce is an Offensive Rookie of the Year candidate. Nico Collins has flashed potential. They seem to have the secondary of the future in Derek Stingley, Jr. and Jalen Pitre. But, between this coaching staff and the quarterback, it certainly feels like we’re approaching a point where it’s time to blow some shit up and start anew. We’re well into this Smith-Mills-Hamilton marriage…deep enough to have adequate data to evaluate. Maybe it’s okay to acknowledge you tried, but ultimately, that you need to hit the reset button here.

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Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.

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