Lovie Smith says Texans have been ‘playing tough’

These aren’t the same Houston Texans.

Although the Texans snapped a nine-game losing streak with a 19-14 win over the Tennessee Titans Christmas Eve at Nissan Stadium, the trend towards winning was already present in previous weeks.

“I think, first, we have to analyze exactly how we’ve been playing,” coach Lovie Smith said after the victory that improved Houston to 2-12-1 on the year. “And, you know, the last two teams that beat us have a chance to win it all.”

Houston played the Dallas Cowboys to 27-23 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Dallas needed a 98-yard drive to win the game in Week 14.

The Texans took the Kansas City Chiefs into overtime at NRG Stadium, but ultimately lost 30-24.

Although the Titans have fallen to 7-8 and are in danger of losing the AFC South to the surging Jacksonville Jaguars, Smith has utmost respect for the reigning division champions, who a year ago locked up the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs.

“This team could win it all,” said Smith. “I mean, they have a chance to represent our division. And we’ve been playing tough.”

Smith believes that anyone watching football for the past few weeks would concur that the Texans are among one of the tougher teams in December.

Said Smith: “If you’ve been watching our football team play and you know football, you’d say that, ‘Hey, this is a team that’s trending here.’ That’s what we’re doing. We’re getting better. As I told the team in there, I mean, we’re playing good football right now.”

Partly what has helped Houston is the improved play from second-year quarterback Davis Mills. The former third-rounder from Stanford has thrown just two interceptions to three touchdowns in his past three games. Mills has also rushed for a touchdown.

The Texans will close out their slate of games at NRG Stadium against the Jaguars in Week 17, who need to sustain their three-game winning streak if they hope to unseat Tennessee for the AFC South title.

“An opportunity to beat anybody we play and we’re going to get a chance to do that because Jacksonville is playing outstanding football, too,” said Smith. “So we’re going to enjoy this, but we understand what’s at stake next.”