Houston Texans: Bill O’Brien Will Not Bench Brock Osweiler

Houston Texans quarterback Brock Osweiler has been a colossal waste of money to this point, but the organization won’t toss him to the side just yet.

You know things are bad when a quarterback gets praised heavily for not screwing plays up miserably. That’s the situation Brock Osweiler found himself in Week 11 when the Houston Texans took on the Oakland Raiders. They made it a close game and Osweiler wasn’t terrible, so naturally a few people praised him, particularly early in the game.

Osweiler had some nice moments in his Week 12 tilt against the San Diego Chargers, completing 22 of 37 passes for 246 yards. DeAndre Hopkins managed to reel in 70 receiving yards and rookie Will Fuller finally got involved again with four catches and 60 yards on six targets.

However, Osweiler also threw three interceptions with no passing touchdowns, and the Texans dropped the game 21-13. Osweiler had the team’s only rushing touchdown of the ballgame and turned three carries in 23 yards, but the picks and wildly inaccurate throws undermined any of the small positives.

There’s little doubt that Osweiler, who signed a contract worth $37 million in guaranteed money, has been an abject failure through the NFL’s first three months. That said, the Texans aren’t interested in benching him.

According to ESPN.com’s Sarah Barshop, Texans head coach Bill O’Brien said that he will not bench Osweiler for Tom Savage.

For as poorly as Osweiler has played, I agree with O’Brien here. Savage is not worth starting at this point, and I still don’t know why he was drafted in the first place. Look, Savage was literally a journeyman quarterback in college and he didn’t exactly shine in his final season as a member of the Pittsburgh Panthers. Maybe things have changed since then, but I doubt it.

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The Texans may have to turn to Savage—or somebody else—later this season, but that shouldn’t happen unless they are desperate. Houston is 6-5 and slipping after losing their first home game of the year, but they aren’t desperate yet.