I've supported Schaub for awhile now. Throughout the years my arguments have included some of the following gems... - He's playing hurt - The defense isn't good - Who else is available that's better? - He just needs a WR2 that is talented to make him better by making the game easier on him (as opposed to a Manning type making his WR's better) - etc... The rational argument from the "experts" now is that the Texans are 2-2. We lost to what many consider the best team in the NFL and the defending Super Bowl champions. That 2-2 isn't really bad at this point in the season considering who we've played. That we're toughing it out without our best player on offense (Brown). And that there are simply no better options available (true). That argument is 100% accurate and logical. In a vacuum. The truth is that this case study has been going on for several years. There really are no excuses left. It's just not working. Whether it might work someday in the instance that Schaub miraculously puts it all together doesn't matter anymore. Time is up. I hate Keenum and Yates though man. But screw it. Times up. Experiment is over. Matt Schaub has had enough chances. He no longer deserves to quarterback this city's team. I'd rather just let Lechler punt it on first down at this point out of principle.
But Schaub has never needed excuses, other than his own health. He was a very good/great/elite QB for long stretches between 2009-2012. His current stretch is unprecedented for him – he has never been this bad for this long (including playoffs: seven games and counting). Over the course of his final five games in 2011 and the first 8 in 2012 – a total of 13 games – he threw 5 INTs. In the next 12 (through last week)? 14. Including playoffs (14 games): 16. I don’t begrudge a lack of optimism right about now… I’m (mostly) in the same vicinity - this feels like it’s about to topple over, much like it did in 2010 when we kept pretending the defensive lapses were just aberrations that would eventually correct themselves… BUT! We do still have games against St. Louis, Arizona, Oakland, and two with Jacksonville. On paper that get us to 7 wins; then we just have to go 3-4 against SF, KC, NE, Denver, Tennessee and Indianapolis (twice), which is manageable. I mean, we’re not 7-7; we’re 2-2 – long way to go. Panicking right now would be silly. Again, I’ll remind everybody: the city of Baltimore was raining boos down on Joe Flacco as late as December 22 last year.
One big difference, though, is that Flacco's problems seemed to stem solely from poor decision-making. In Schaub's case, not only has he been making poor decisions lately, but he also seems physically beat down. He looks unhealthy, out of shape, and/or old.
Schaub lost 11 pounds this offseason... I don't know - prior to the pick-6, was anybody thinking Schaub looked physically beat down? Unhealthy? Out of shape? As many did last year with the final four games, let's try not to to let a small sample size color our overall perception. There is *plenty* to be concerned about... But it seems pretty finitely that he has suddenly stopped making good decisions.
Yep. Teams with brains and stones have the ability to move on during the season. That's one of the many beautiful wonders of having backup qbs on your roster. I think we can all agree at this point that the Texans are incapable of making such a move though.
The Matt Schaub who was limited physically, but was still accurate and did not turn the ball over excessively you could live and even win big with provided everything else is clicking. The current Schaub? Not so much.
So, you are in favor of keeping Schaub as qb indefinitely? Or you're just finding a nice seat atop the fence? Our record means nothing at this point. If he found a way to stop his sucking for 40 yards of offense in overtime and we're 3-1...that still doesn't erase him attempting to throw away the game in regulation or all of the other awful decisions he has made that a light's out defense has covered his ass on. He sucks. He's holding this team back. He's not taking this team anywhere. How anybody could not see that by now is beyond me. Yates is even worse than Schaub and is clearly not a long-term answer. Keenum: who knows? Jam him in there after we get dusted off by San Fran, and give him a reasonably long leash. Our D and our skill players on offense are good enough to get to the playoffs with a wide range of qbs. It should be easy to determine pretty quickly if he has the goods. If so, use the rest of the season to evaluate him, and determine whether he's great enough to stick with, or go another route in the offseason. Never again should we have to suffer through 5+ years of a passable quarterback. It doesn't take that long to figure out somebody doesn't have "it".
SI has, hands down, the best sports writing. This is a great line. Matt Schaub, he plays just good enough to get you beat.
