Texans bench Brock Osweiler, will start Tom Savage this week

The Indianapolis Colts are going to be scoreboard watching for the remainder of the season, as they’re going to need a lot of help to make the postseason. That includes getting help from the Houston Texans - or, more accurately, the Texans’ opponents - and so a significant development is happening with Houston that is worth paying attention to.

Texans coach Bill O’Brien announced today that Tom Savage will start at quarterback this Saturday against the Cincinnati Bengals, meaning that Brock Osweiler has indeed officially been benched.

O’Brien benched Osweiler during yesterday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars after a rough start, as he completed 6 of 11 passes for 48 yards and two picks. Savage then entered the game and helped lead the Texans to a comeback win, completing 23 of 36 passes for 260 yards. Now, Savage will remain the quarterback as the Texans look to hold on to their slight AFC South lead.

The Brock Osweiler signing has been an absolute disaster for the Texans, as they signed him to a four-year, $72 million contract with $37 million guaranteed this offseason. At the time it was openly question, and now it’s just openly mocked. Osweiler has started 14 games this year and completed 280 of 470 passes (59.6%) for 2,704 yards (5.8 yards per attempt), 14 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions for a passer rating of 71.4 (the second-lowest mark of any qualified quarterback this year). He has been terrible, and the Texans have finally seen enough. This situation is incredibly interesting, though, because it’s hard for them to get out of their investment after this year, but they benched him anyway.

As crazy as it sounds, the move to Tom Savage actually probably gives the Texans a better chance to win than sticking with Brock Osweiler does. Savage has played in just three career games however, and he has completed 33 of 55 passes (60%) for 387 yards (7.0 yards per attempt), and an interception for a passer rating of 73.8 The Texans just need him to manage the game and avoid turning the football over, which is something Osweiler has proven unable to do. If he can do that, the Texans are set up well to repeat as AFC South champions.