Written by Chris Burke at SI.com
Tom Savage, a fourth-round pick in the 2014 draft, will earn about $630K on average per year over the life of his rookie contract. Brock Osweiler, who signed a four-year deal worth $72 million this past off-season, makes close to that for every half of Texans football.
Yet, for weeks now, there has been a sense that Houston’s season may come down to what occurred Sunday: Savage replacing an ineffective Osweiler in a critical spot, with the playoffs on the line.
Texans coach Bill O’Brien denied for as long as he could that a QB change was in the works—Osweiler is paid to be a No. 1 QB, after all, and Savage had all of 19 career passes before Week 15. But with Houston’s offense utterly lifeless early on against Jacksonville, O’Brien finally pulled the trigger on a QB change.
The Texans rallied for the win, 21–20, and now almost certainly will ride Savage as far as he can carry them for the remainder of this season.
After Houston’s Week 12 loss to San Diego, O’Brien firmly declared, via the Houston Chronicle: “Brock is our starting quarterback. … There are 11 guys on the field. Could Brock have done some things better? Absolutely. Could I have coached better? Absolutely. It’s a team sport.
“The defense has played well. The offense needs to play better.”
The Texans paid for Osweiler because they believed he could quickly develop into a legitimate No. 1 quarterback. At the very least, they had to assume they were upgrading from the Brian Hoyers and Ryan Malletts of recent rosters.
Instead, what they have received thus far is the same player Denver pulled for Peyton Manning in the playoffs—a hesitant, inaccurate quarterback.
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