Best Game of Season for Davis Mills in Texans Loss to Raiders
It's been a subpar start to his sophomore campaign for Davis Mills, but Sunday afternoon at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, the Houston Texans quarterback enjoyed his best performance this season.
Mills eclipsed 300 yards in passing for the first time this year, going 28 of 41 for 302 yards and two touchdowns.
Unfortunately, Mills' performance wasn't enough, as the Texans fell to 1-4-1 following a 38-20 loss to the Raiders.
"He was running the game plan," Houston coach Lovie Smith said. "I thought we had a good game plan. Just doing things that we need to do to have success early on. But you still need touchdowns in some of those situations."
Ahead of playing Vegas, Mills spent the bye week focusing on execution and how to enhance his game. It appears that the extra time Mills spent revising his game had paid off.
For perhaps the first time this season, Mills looked poised and comfortable from the pocket. And with nine different targets, Mills did a great job spreading the ball around to Houston's receivers, tight ends and running backs.
The most significant improvement was Mills' ability to handle the pressure, given the number of times the Raiders blitzed.
When the pocket started to collapse, Mills did a better job using his legs to help the Texans sustain drives.
Mills' willingness to use his athleticism helped Houston convert 9-of-15 third-downs, and was the reason behind a 25-yard touchdown pass to veteran Phillip Dorsett.
"We got up on the ball pretty quick with a little tempo," Mills said. "Got them in a cover-2 look and short motion down to [Brandin Cooks]. I'm reading that low-high, so the corner stayed down on Brandin, and I was able to hold the safety in the middle of the field and buy a little time to let Phil win on his route, and he made a really good catch"
The Texans were adamant throughout the spring about giving Mills the chance to be the starting quarterback of the future following Deshaun Watson's departure.
Mills has failed to prove as much this season, but should he contain the level of play he showcased against the Raiders is a step in the right direction.
"I don't know if I would contribute that to extra film study, but it’s something I've talked to myself about — being able to extend plays," Mills said. "I still don't know if I have too many scrambles on the season, so just looking for opportunities to extend the plays and help my linemen out and help the running backs in protection to find guys open downfield when I can."
You can follow Coty M. Davis on Twitter at @CotyDavis_24
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