Battle Red Blog
The season has been on the line for the Texans since September. Three weeks into the regular season schedule and without a win to show, it quickly became obvious to those watching that this was going to be a difficult year for Houston. Regardless of whether or not the struggle was justified, Houston was not the powerhouse Texans fans have to come to expect after two very successful years with quarterback CJ Stroud at the helm. Losing the first three games in a row to start the big 2025 season put both the team and fans in a crisis of confidence that is rarely seen so early in the year, especially for a two-time defending division champion. The defense had remained the same, but the offense had become such a liability that new offensive coordinator Nick Caley had become one of the most decried coaches in the city of Houston before he had even finished unpacking his bags from Los Angeles.
Despite all of the hullabaloo, though, Houston continued to cling on. Entering NRG Stadium in week 10 to face the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Texans had done an admirable job rebounding from the ugly start, eking to a record of 3-5 at the midway point. Not dead…but, everyone in the building knew on Sunday that this was a must-win game. At this point of the season, a 3-6 record and a 1-2 division record would practically be a death knell with eight games left to play. And then, you saw the injury report:
Now, the entire season was in dire straits. All of this pressure to win with an injured team will not fall on the shoulders of CJ Stroud, but Davis Mills! Then the game arrives, and the Texans have arguably the worst start to a football game in franchise history, crescendoing with a 73-yard punt return touchdown by Jacksonville’s Parker Washington to put the Jaguars up 17-0 with 11:40 left in the second quarter. Suddenly, it became clear Davis Mills can’t just play in this game – he’s going to have to win it. And at that moment, down 17-0 just 20 minutes into the game, it looked like this team of backups and band-aids had finally met their maker. Down by three possessions, desperate times were calling for desperate measures. In his first game starting since the famous (or infamous) 2022 season finale against the Indianapolis Colts, Davis Mills would have to lead one of the biggest comebacks in Texans history.
AND. HE. DID!
Down for the count and facing a despondent fanbase, Davis Mills led the Texans to two scoring drives to end the half, and then had three straight touchdown drives in the fourth quarter to take the lead with 31 seconds left in the game. He threw dime after dime to Nico Collins, Jayden Higgins, and Dalton Schultz, who accounted for nearly all of Mills’ completions in the fourth quarter. He was even complemented by several great runs by both Nick Chubb and Woody...
