Houston Texans Analysis: Why Tom Savage Could Be The Answer
The benching of Brock Osweiler last Sunday against Jacksonville could give way to Tom Savage starting the rest of the 2016 season for the Houston Texans.
The benching of Brock Osweiler last Sunday against Jacksonville could give way to Tom Savage starting the rest of the 2016 season for the Houston Texans.
When the Houston Texans were down 13-0 against the Jacksonville Jaguars last Sunday, it seemed as though all hope for the season was quickly starting to fade away.
Bill O’Brien then did unthinkable.
Brock Osweiler was sat and Tom Savage was brought in.
At the time, this seemed to be a gutsy move. That is, until Savage led the team to hanging-by-a-thread victory of 21-20 over their divisional rival.
In leading the Houston Texans to another win, Savage went 23-for-36 with 236 total yards. In context, that is a 63.9 percent completion rate in that one game.
Osweiler has a seasonal completion rate of 59.7 percent. Savage’s one game passer rating of 85 percent is also significantly better than Osweiler’s 78 percent PR for the entire season.
But is this all enough to allow for Savage to start these last two games of the season?
If the answer is yes….
The Houston Texans may just have a better chance to distance themselves from the Tennessee Titans, who are nipping at their heals in the division.
Houston does hold the tie breaker for being undefeated within the division. However, at this point in the year, you can never be to careful.
So long as Savage can remain as poised and consistent as he was last Sunday, the Texans will not only win the division, but get pretty far in the playoffs. Perhaps, even to the Super Bowl.
If the answer is no….
Tom Savage’s debut season numbers from 2014 come into play. They look like this across only two games:
Passer Rating: 51%
10/19 for 127 total yards
6.7 average yards
0 TD’s
1 INT
-6 rushing yards
2 fumbles + 1 lost ball
Certainly, these sort of numbers will not help in getting the team far in the post season. Couple that with Osweiler and his salary, and the organization does get put in a bit of a dilemma.
However, as O’Brien pointed out in the post game press conference, he’s looking for what helps the team win, and not what a particular player is getting paid. Osweiler even echoed this exact same sentiment as the player that ended up getting benched in the game.
Overall, Savage looks ready to take over.
The Houston Texans needs as many wins as they can muster right now. And in the playoffs, they cannot afford to lose even one. Osweiler has certainly made some strides in 2016, but has also hit one too many skids for the team to keep starting him.
Savage gives the Texans the best chance to make it as close to the Super Bowl as possible. He has clearly found a formula that supersedes his 2014 numbers. As I predicted last month, the team still has a good shot, even in an extremely competitive AFC conference.
One game from Savage may be too small a sample size, but it is one that will raise eyebrows. Will it be enough to convince O’Brien?
That remains to be seen.
But the answer is clear.