Texans Finish 2022 Season Winless At NRG Stadium
HOUSTON — The Houston Texans made history Sunday afternoon in the most humiliating way. After losing to the Jacksonville Jaguars 31-3 inside NRG Stadium, the Texans ended the season winless at home.
Coach Lovie Smith was even more disappointed when considering that his team was healthy and had played their best ball of the year entering their Week 17 contest.
"When you play like that, it's not going to happen," Smith said. "We're not going to win one, so there's nothing else to really say on that. You got to score some points, got to be able to keep them out of the end zone. We didn't do that today."
Houston dropped seven of their eight home games. Their only non-loss took place during a Week 1 tie to the Indianapolis Colts. The Texans were up 20-3 with 4:38 left in the third quarter before the Colts scored 17 unanswered points.
The Texans' 0-7-1 home record coincides with the most suitable examples of Davis Mills' sophomore struggles. He finished the 2022 home schedule completing 60.0 percent of his passes for 1,284 yards, nine touchdowns, and seven interceptions.
Mills' performance against the Jaguars may have been his worst of the year.
After three consecutive games of substantial play, He reverted to the issues that plagued his production by rushing reads and overthrowing his target several times.
The Texans failed to move the chains in 12 of their 13 offensive drives. Their lone scoring possession took place at the 5:49 mark of the third quarter when kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn converted a 59-yard field goal.
"I think we probably need to give the Jaguars credit — the pressure was good on their part today," Smith said. " [Their] coverage was really good. I didn't think our protection was as good as it needs to be, and Davis would be the first guy to tell you.
"Whenever we're talking about passing game not being effective, it's about throwing and catching. We weren't able to do that today."
After dropping seven consecutive home games, the Texans' all-time record at NRG Stadium stands at 81-87-1 since their inaugural campaign in 2002.
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