Houston's Davis Mills continues a disturbing trend of backup QBs besting Jacksonville Jaguars

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Houston's Davis Mills continues a disturbing trend of backup QBs besting Jacksonville Jaguars

Garry Smits, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union · The Florida Times-Union

Tue, Nov 11, 2025 ·

8 min read

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It's one of the most mystifying trends for the Jacksonville Jaguars over the past six seasons: Getting beaten, and often lit up, by a backup quarterback.

Davis Mills of the Houston Texans threw for 292 yards and two touchdowns, and scored the winning TD on a 14-yard scramble on third down on Nov. 9 to lead a 36-29 victory over the Jaguars at Houston's NRG Stadium. Mills engineered a rally from a 29-10 deficit with three TD drives in the fourth quarter.

The Texans outgained the Jaguars 167-9 and made first downs or scored touchdowns on six of six third- and fourth-down plays.

Houston Texans quarterback Davis Mills (10) throws under pressure from Jacksonville Jaguars Arik Armstead during their game on Nov, 9 in Houston.

Davis Mills — yes, that Davis Mills — is now 3-1 as a starter against the Jaguars.

"He didn't play like a backup," Jaguars coach Liam Coen said.

They never seem to do, when facing a teal uniform.

Jaguars make legends out of Mills, Jake Browning

Jake Browning is another second-string quarterback whom the Jaguars have helped make famous. He came off the bench in Week 2 this season after Joe Burrow was knocked out with an injury and shook off three interceptions to lead a 15-play, 92-yard scoring drive in which he completed nine of 12 passes for 65 yards.

The drive ended with Browning's 1-yard quarterback sneak with 19 seconds left to put the Bengals ahead 31-27. It was Browning's first rushing touchdown in the NFL.

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Jake Brown scores the winning touchdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 14, 2025 at Cincinnati's Paycor Stadium.

Browning played the entire game against the Jaguars on Monday night, Dec. 4, 2023, when Burrow was hurt again. He completed 32 of 37 for 354 yards in a 34-31 overtime victory for Cincinnati that was the beginning of the Jaguars' tailspin from the AFC's No. 1 playoff seed to watching the postseason on TV.

That's not all:

Malik Willis came off the bench for Green Bay last season when Jordan Love was hurt to lead two scoring drives that gave the Packers a 27-17 lead. When Trevor Lawrence rallied to lead the Jaguars to a 27-27 tie, Willis threw a 51-yard pass to Jayden Reed to set up the winning field goal by Brandon McManus .
Chad Henne relieved Patrick Mahomes in a 2023 playoff game and took Kansas City on a 98-yard scoring drive in the second quarter of an eventual 27-20 Chiefs victory .
Joe Flacco has beaten the Jaguars twice with two teams as a reliever (and three times with three teams, going back to his years with Baltimore ), throwing for 264 yards with the Colts last year in a 26-23 overtime victory and going for 311 yards and three scores in 2023 for Cleveland in a 31-27 victory .
Geno Smith pinch-hit for Russell Wilson in 2021 with Seattle , and was 20 of 24 for 195 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-7 thumping of the Jags.

What is the name of Earl Morrall is going on?

Liam Coen praises Davis Mills for a job well done

Coen didn't have an easy answer, other than to express his dismay that his defense has been riddled twice this season by backups.

"Obviously [the backups have] gotten us twice this year and game-winning drive situations where those guys have been able to go the distance," he said. "There's definitely a frustration there. But Davis performed; he produced in critical moments."

Coen, a quarterback in college and arena football, ventured one hypothesis: no pressure.

"The expectations are what they are," Coen said. "If Joe Burrow would have done it, that's one thing. But a backup going in there and doing that ... I know I was a backup quarterback at one time in my career and you just go out and you cut it loose. There's not a ton of expectations."

Older QBs rejuvenated at sight of Jaguars defense

The Jaguars' defense also seems to be a Fountain of Youth for quarterbacks. Flacco was 38 and 39 years old when he led the Browns and Colts to victory and Henne was 37.

Jacksonville also lost games to quarterbacks who, at the time, were their team's starters but weren't exactly the future of their respective franchises.

Joe Flacco (15) throws against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Jan. 5, 2025, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

After all, who had bingo cards with Tyrod Taylor throwing for 291 yards and two scores in a 37-21 victory for Houston in 2021, Teddy Bridgewater racking up 328 yards and two TD passes in a 23-13 victory for Denver a week later or Ryan Fitzpatrick completing 18 of 20 passes in leading Miami to a 31-13 victory in 2020 in Jacksonville?

They were all capable, veteran quarterbacks. But it wasn't Brady , Manning or Roethlisberger beating the Jags.

The Jaguars have lost 10 games since 2020 to the following starting quarterbacks: Mills (three times), an aging but still effective Flacco (twice), Browning, Fitzpatrick, Taylor, Bridgewater and Smith, with Henne, Willis and Browning coming off the bench for meaningful snaps in three other losses, and Willis and Browning engineering game-winning scoring drives.

The quarterbacks in those games have completed 68.3 percent of their passes for 2,864 yards, 20 touchdowns, only six interceptions and a 102.75 passer rating.

Jaguars have had their own backup QB successes

The case could be made for the Jaguars not stopping anyone behind center during that span, since the team is 32-63 since 2020.

The Jaguars have also had success with a second-team quarterback.

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Mac Jones (10) calls a play during the fourth quarter Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. The Jaguars held off the Titans 20-13. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union]

Mac Jones won two games as a starter last season when Trevor Lawrence went out for the season. C.J. Beathard kept the Jaguars' 2023 playoff hopes alive when he led a 26-0 victory over Carolina. And Cody Kessler was the starter in a 6-0 victory over Indianapolis in 2018 when the Colts still had Andrew Luck in his prime but that game had more to do with a defense that had three sacks and two turnovers.

Then there was rookie Gardner Minshew , who had to replace starter Nick Foles on opening day in 2019 and went on to post a 6-6 record as a starter, including road victories at Denver and Oakland.

The Jaguars have also taken care of business against backups. They closed the 2022 playoff season by beating Mills and Josh Dobbs at Tennessee , getting a combination of three turnovers and five sacks, and didn't allow Chris Steveler of the New York Jets to become a hero after he relieved Zach Wilson the week before those final two games.

Mills also isn't the only backup to have won an NFL game this season. Minnesota has beaten Cincinnati and Cleveland with Carson Wentz in relief of J.J. McCarthy ; Jacoby Brissett threw for 261 yards and two touchdowns to lead Arizona over Dallas on Monday Night; and Marcus Mariota had touchdowns passing and running to lead Washington over Las Vegas .

NFL backup QBs are often veterans

NFL coaches more not often than not try to obtain veterans to be their backups, especially when they're developing a first-round rookie.

Flacco has won two Super Bowls and is in his 18th season. Henne played for three NFL teams over 15 years, including the Jaguars from 2012-2017. Taylor was in his 11th season with his fifth team when he beat the Jaguars in 2021.

The backup or journeyman quarterbacks the Jaguars have lost games to since 2020 have an average of 8.5 years of NFL experience at the time of those games.

"Davis Mills was a third-round draft pick ... he's definitely talented," Coen said.

Jaguars defensive tackle Arik Armstead , in his 11th season, said a quarterback drawing an NFL check should be capable enough to win a game when called upon.

"It's any given Sunday for a reason," he said. "There are good players all over the league, whether backups or starters. Once you get in the business of taking people lightly, you're setting yourself up for a recipe for disaster. There's no taking it lightly on anyone in the NFL."

But if the loss to the Texans wasn't a recipe for disaster, then what was it?

Backup QBs don't go off-schedule

Armstead also said that coaches generally tailor game plans to a backup's skill set, and that quarterback often has the common sense not to try to play beyond his ability and to avoid mistakes.

That's frequently a recipe for victory in the NFL. In the 10 games the Jaguars have lost to backup quarterbacks, or when a backup has come off the bench to win, seven have been interception-free.

"The game plan definitely changes and the game kind of simplifies,"Armstead said. "You see a lot of quick game [passes], a lot of running the ball, trying not to put the game in their hands."

Other factors as to why backup quarterbacks are frequently ready to play: the number of NFL coaches who have a background in offense and in coaching quarterbacks, the fact that backups often go against their team's first defense in training camp and practice, the motivation to play well when the chance comes, and teammates who rally around him, especially since a backup is usually playing in times of adversity, such as an injury or the benching of the previous starter.

That clearly happened in Houston with Mills

"Davis is a pro's pro," said Houston offensive coordinator Nick Caley a few days before the game. "He's really smart. He approaches every single day with the right attitude. He's locked in and he handles everything. I have a lot of faith in him. We're lucky to have him."

And for the third time in Mills' career, the Jaguars were unlucky to have faced him.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars victimized again by a backup quarterback in loss to Houston

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