Andy Reid Praises Texans' Lovie Smith: 'Just Give Him Time'
HOUSTON -- Andy Reid preached patience, delivering an unprompted message perhaps intended for the Houston Texans ownership and management teams.
Although the Texans fell in overtime, 30-24, to the heavily favored Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday at NRG Stadium, they delivered a strong performance derailed by quarterback Davis Mills' costly fumble that led to the game-winning touchdown.
The Texans own the NFL's worst record at 1-12-1 and there's already been plenty of speculation surrounding Smith's job security
Reid, though, believes that Smith just needs more time, citing how hard and how well his team has played in consecutive narrow losses to the Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys.
"My hat goes off to Lovie for the great job he's done here," Reid said in his opening statement before taking questions at his press conference. "I mean, you've seen it the last two weeks. It's a hard job, and it takes time as a head coach. Lovie, my word of advice is just give him time.
"He's a tremendous football coach. I've had a chance to compete against him for a number of years and just rock-solid football teams. The thing I was proudest about our guys was they kept playing. They didn't let anything hinder them, whether it was calls, whether it was fumbles, whatever. They kept playing."
The Texans are careening toward the top overall pick of the draft.
They've been outscored by a total of 109 points this season.
They arguably should have beat the Cowboys and the Chiefs, though.
“That team out there today has won one game, but they're not playing like that," Smith said. "They're showing up every day, taking coaching, trying to get better. They're coming to the games and giving ourselves a chance to win it at the end. We still haven't finished a game the way we need to get a win, but we're building."
And Smith, a former Super Bowl coach with the Chicago Bears and NFL Coach of the Year hired as the replacement for David Culley, has the Texans playing competitive football despite the absence of wide receivers Brandin Cooks and Nico Collins, running back Dameon Pierce and first-round cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. and first-round offensive guard Kenyon Green due to injuries.
"Number one, you see the heart that they play with," Reid said. "Then, two, the defense is tremendous. Offensively, they're banged up a little bit. The injuries can kind of get you there. I look at the scheme of the offense and defense and how they do on special teams, and they're right there.
"They're right there to get over that hump. This type of game helps them. The Cowboys game helps them. They will, they'll get over the hump and be right there for you next year.”
Texans veteran right offensive tackle Tytus Howard lined up at left guard against the Chiefs with Green out. As disappointed as he was to lose again after a game effort, he's convinced the Texans are on the right track.
"It was tough, man," Howard said. "I can't say I'm down because I see the potential of this team right now. I see we can play with the best teams two weeks in a row. Going forward to the future, we're building something good and I think we're going to be a good team."
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes completed 36 of 41 passes for 336 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions. He was sacked twice.
He had the support of a strong running game led by rookie Isiah Pacheco, who rushed for 86 of the Chiefs' 189 rushing yards, and tight end Travis Kelce and wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster catching 10 passes apiece for a combined 193 yards on 20 targets.
"Their front seven is really good, they've got guys that can play," Mahomes said. "We knew that coming in, you could see it on tape. Especially when you watch the Cowboys game. They blitzed a little more than I was expecting, but we finally got a handle on it a little bit in the second half and were able to move the ball. They did a good job. They’re well-coached. Their record hasn’t been great, but they have a lot of good players on that team."
Mahomes got slammed to the turf by defensive tackle Maliek Collins.
"What surprised me the most is I feel like I'm a pretty heavy dude, and he threw me pretty easily there," Mahomes said. "He's a strong guy. I'll try to stay away from him next time we play him.”
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