Mixed reviews
HOUSTON (AP) — Houston’s Tom Savage wasn’t great in his first career start in place of Brock Osweiler.
But the former University of Pittsburgh quartterback didn’t make any major mistakes, and the Texans got a 12-10 win over Cincinnati on Saturday night thanks to a missed field goal as time expired.
Houston clinched a second straight AFC South title. Savage and the Texans know he’ll need to improve if they hope to make a run this postseason.
“I think we can build, and obviously I think it’s a good thing that we protected the ball — not put the defense in a tough situation,” Savage said. “I think just going out there and ... and keep executing what we need to do, and it’s good to go out there and get some experience for sure.”
Savage threw for 260 yards last week to help Houston rally for a 21-20 win over Jacksonville in his first regular-season action since 2014. Osweiler was benched that game after throwing interceptions on consecutive possessions in the second quarter. Coach Bill O’Brien decided to leave Osweiler on the bench and stick with Savage this week, and early on against the Bengals it looked like a mistake.
Savage completed two passes for 13 yards in the first half and the Texans trailed 3-0 at halftime. The third-year player was much better in the second half and he finished with 176 yards passing to help Houston win. He completed 18 of 29 passes and has not turned over the ball after Osweiler threw more interceptions (16) than touchdown passes (14) in his 14 starts.
“We went to no-huddle and he was able to get rid of the ball a little bit quicker,” O’Brien said. “The no-huddle helped our pace, our rhythm, and it was just a good job by the offensive staff of getting him into a rhythm.”
Though the Texans (9-6) moved the ball better after halftime, they still struggled in the red zone. Houston had first downs inside the 10-yard line twice in the second half Saturday night and settled for field goals on both of those trips.
