Texans backup quarterback Davis Mills has played well enough in the absence of C.J. Stroud for Houston to go 3-0 and get back into playoff contention. But Mills says there’s no thought that he could continue starting once Stroud is cleared to return from his concussion.
Mills said his expectation is that Stroud is set to get the starting job back, and Mills will go back to helping the team in whatever role he can behind Stroud.
“In my current situation I don’t think there’s a competition,” Mills said. “CJ’s the starter for this team. I’m just doing everything I can to bring my best foot forward every day, make everyone else around me better, and try to play my role to my best ability when I get thrown in there.”
The Texans have to be pleased with Mills’ performance in keeping the season alive without Stroud — and have to be pleased that he understands his place in the franchise.
Thursday night’s game was a coming out party for the Texans defense.
Houston allowed the fewest points and yards of any team heading into Week 12, but they’ve rarely been the center of attention the way they were against the Bills on Thursday night and they gave the expanded viewing audience a great example of what they’re capable of doing. They hit Josh Allen 12 times and brought him down for eight sacks while also forcing three turnovers in a 23-19 win.
The stats said the Texans had the league’s top defense heading into the game and linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair said there was no doubt about it after the win.
“We definitely got the best defense in the league,” Al-Shaair said, via DJ Bien-Amie of ESPN.com.” You just got to put it on tape every day.”
The Texans started the year 0-3, but their defense has sparked a turnaround that leaves them at 6-5 heading into road games against the Colts and Chiefs. If the unit can spur them to wins in those games, the Texans will find themselves squarely in the playoff mix and in the discussion for the top overall teams in the AFC heading into the postseason.
The 2021 draft class has more than a few quarterbacks who busted. There’s one guy who, four years later, is finally breaking out.
Davis Mills, the third pick in round three (taken one spot after the Vikings selected Kellen Mond), has won three games in a row, beating the Jaguars, Titans, and Bills. And while he’ll likely take a seat for C.J. Stroud when the Texans face the Colts in Week 13, Mills has done enough to get the attention of the league at large.
“I just want it to be seen that I am capable of going out there and winning big games,” Mills told PFT by phone after Houston’s 36-29 win over the Jaguars. “This was a big divisional win for our team as we’re still continuing to push forward throughout the season, we’ve got a lot of games still to go ahead of us and we want to start the momentum to on a streak and get in the playoffs.”
Under Mills, who gave the Broncos a run for their money after Stroud exited with a concussion, the Texans have surged from 3-5 afterthought to 6-5 contender. And Mills has supplemented his 26 starts from 2021 and 2022 with a series of solid performances that will potentially give him an eventual chance to be a starter elsewhere.
He’s signed through 2026, at a base salary next year of $6 million. It makes him a potential trade target in the offseason, given the not-so-robust class of free agents and incoming group of rookies who, for now, doesn’t seem to be as promising as it once was.
Against the Bills, Mills completed 16 of 30 passes for 153 yards and two touchdowns. Coupled with a dominant defense, he was able to outduel defending MVP Josh Allen.
For the season, Mills has thrown 150 passes, completing 88 of them for 879 yards, five touchdowns, and one interception.
However it plays out for Mills in the future, he’s making himself far more desirable than three of the five 2021 first-rounders: Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, Justin Fields. And Mills may have, over the last three-plus games, played his way onto the radar screen of teams that will looking for a new quarterback next year.
The Texans sacked Josh Allen eight times, hit him 12 times, intercepted him twice and forced and recovered a fumble by Khalil Shakir. Still, it came down to the end as the Texans held on for a 23-19 victory over the Bills.
It was Houston’s third consecutive win, with all three coming without C.J. Stroud, as the Texans climbed back to 6-5. The Bills fell to 7-4.
The Bills managed to make it a game, even though the Texans felt in control the final three quarters.
Buffalo stayed alive on fourth-and-27 with 51 seconds left on a trick play, with Joshua Palmer catching a short pass and lateraling to Khalil Shakir for a 33-yard gain to the Houston 26. Gabe Davis nearly made a miraculous catch inside the 5-yard line on the next play, but he got only one foot down in bounds.
That was as close as the Bills would get against a relentless Texans defense that saw Will Anderson get 2.5 sacks of Allen and Danielle Hunter contribute two more.
Calen Bullock made his second interception of Allen on fourth-and-6 from the Houston 22 with 18 seconds left.
Allen finished 24-of-34 for 253 yards and two interceptions. Shakir caught eight passes for 110 yards, and James Cook ran 17 times for 116 yards and a touchdown.
Mills completed 16 of 30 passes for 153 yards and two touchdowns, an 8-yarder to Jayden Higgins and a 2-yarder to Christian Kirk. Nico Collins caught three passes for 55 yards, and Woody Marks ran for 74 yards on 16 carries.
The Bills have lost two defensive players for the rest of the game.
They ruled out linebacker Terrel Bernard with a right elbow injury. He returned to the sideline wearing a sling.
Bernard was injured with 10:27 remaining in the third quarter when he and Matt Milano tackled Texans running back Nick Chubb for a 1-yard loss.
Hairston left with 7:16 left in the third quarter to be checked for a concussion.
He was injured on Woody Marks’ 3-yard run.
The Texans have ruled out cornerback Ajani Carter with a hamstring injury.
