I was hoping to never hear or see these three words in the same sentence again but I guess that was wishful thinking. Yesterday, the Houston Texans announced that quarterback Matt Schaub will miss the rest of the season due to a severe foot injury.
As my esteem colleague Tristan Jones pointed out yesterday, the Texans’ “bad luck” showed up at the worst possible time.
The Texans are a top of the AFC and the AFC South division with a 7-3 record. They’re finally in a good position to make their first playoff appearance, but that playoff door could close right in their faces with Matt Leinart as the starting quarterback.
Leinart is 7-9 as a starter with 14 TDs, 20 INTs and a 57.1 completion percentage. I’m pretty sure Texans fans are crying a river right now.
Of course the Texans coaches and player are going to say they’re confident that Leinart can win with this team. If he was an average quarterback he could win with weapons like Andre Johnson, Arian Foster, Owen Daniels and Ben Tate around him.
But c’mon man! This is Matt Leinart we are talking about.
So if Leinart isn’t “the guy” who can keep this team in playoff contention, then who is?
Mike Florio at ProFootballTalk.com said Brett Favre is that “guy” and suggest that the Texans should give him a call.
Yes, I believe the Texans should call Brett Favre. Though he has become a caricature, the analysis is simple: Would you rather have Favre or Leinart running your offense?
I don’t expect the Texans to call Favre, and I have no idea whether Favre would be interested. But for the past few years there’s been a vague sense that Favre would consider capping his career with a Roger Clemens-style partial season with a contending team that has a clear need.
Many will dismiss the possibility because we’re all sick of Brett Favre the man. But there’s no denying that Brett Favre the quarterback can still bring it.
Not so sure about that “Favre the quarterback can still bring it” part. His last season in Minnesota (2010) wasn’t that good. He had 11 TDs with 19 INTs with a 60.6 completion percentage in 13 games, so I’m not so sure he could still bring it like he did in 2009 (33 TDs, 7 INTs, 68.4 CMP%).
But 2010 Brett is better than 2011 Leinart.
But I rather not see Favre in another NFL uniform again. I have nothing against him as a player, but the constant media coverage on him would be so annoying and unnecessary.
So the Texans should do everyone a favor and not bring up Favre’s name.