Texans coach Lovie Smith insists his team can go a long way in 2022. Maybe even all the way.
Smith compared the 2022 Texans to the 2021 Bengals, saying he believes his team can make the kind of turnaround that resulted in Cincinnati playing in Super Bowl LVI.
“We won four games this year. The Bengals won four the year before, and this was a big year for them,” Smith told Peter King in Football Morning in America. “We don’t have to wonder—we just saw a team do it. Someone’s going to make that jump. Someone always does. Why not us?”
The biggest reason why not is that the Bengals have Joe Burrow at quarterback while the Texans’ own elite quarterback, Deshaun Watson, appears set on never playing for Houston again. But Smith believes the Texans can have a great quarterback, even in 2021 draft pick Davis Mills, or in someone the Texans draft in April.
“What gives me optimism is . . . I got a chance to see Davis Mills. How many special quarterbacks are there out there? There’s a few. But there’s a lot of good quarterbacks. I think we will have a good quarterback for the Houston Texans,” Smith said. “We have the third pick in the draft right now. There’s a possibility of us getting a great quarterback added to our team, or a lot of draft picks to get in more players. Something positive’s going to come out of that.”
Smith is more optimistic than realistic, but if the Texans are in the playoffs in 11 months, he’ll deserve to be the NFL’s Coach of the Year.
