Hoyer Expected To Start For Texans Against Jaguars

Shrugging off a shaky first quarter-and-a-half on Sunday, Weeden led three touchdown drives in a 10-minute span bridging the halves as the Houston Texans routed the inept Tennessee Titans 34-6 at Nissan Stadium.

Tennessee (3-12) plays its final game of the season at Indianapolis against the Colts (7-8) on Sunday, Jan. 3 at 12 p.m.

Marcus Mariota was out with a sprained MCL in his right knee, and the Titans played flat from the get-go behind backup quarterback Zach Mettenberger, who was 27 of 51 for 234 yards, but much of that came after the Texans had built a huge lead. Weeden became the first quarterback in Texans’ history to run for a touchdown and throw for two more.

The Houston Texans next game should be able to bump them up to 9-7 without any issue as they face the Jacksonville Jaguars next Sunday.

“I thought a quick start was big”, Texans coach Bill O’Brien said.

“I think the most important thing is to win”, said O’Brien. “I think the guys they’ve brought in are high-IQ football guys, so it hasn’t been frustrating”.

To wit, the Titans (3-12) have now played the Texans 28 times starting in 2002.

The result has been a record of 6-2 since that point, and the defense which struggled early on is now playing smarter football and making up for an offense that lacks true firepower outside of receiver DeAndre Hopkins. “Even though I had a Pro Bowl season, I left a lot of yards on the field, so I’ve got a lot of room to improve in”.

“Brandon’s done a really good job”, O’Brien said. “We go out there and we win next week, that’s all that matters”.

In a number of previous games, the Titans had waited until the fourth quarter to cough the ball up in critical situations. It took a second loss this season to the Texans to leave little doubt that interim coach Mike Mularkey won’t be ordained the next head coach to try and fix this mess.

Said Titans linebacker Brian Orakpo: “Hopefully, we’ll get the W, and that will kind of feed us into the offseason”. “What you saw early and often – with the turnovers and some of the mistakes we made – I’m not getting that message across clear enough”.

Hoyer’s injury is part of a series of events that have caused the Texans to start four quarterbacks this season. He finished with 200 yards passing for his first win as a starter this season after coming off the bench to beat the Colts a week ago. He was cut by Dallas last month.

“I believe that we have to focus on the Jacksonville Jaguars”, said O’Brien. Showing all the markings on and off the field of being the franchise quarterback the team hasn’t had since Steve McNair, Mariota is one of a few encouraging signs for an eventual turnaround. “It feels good personally, I’m more excited for this team”. Houston reportedly acquired B.J. Daniels from the Seattle Seahawks and assigned him to the team’s practice squad to increase depth at the position.

The Titans avoided being shut out at home for the first time in 29 years when Mettenberger hit rookie Tre McBride for a 1-yard TD with 91 seconds left.

Weeden joins Hoyer, Ryan Mallett and T.J. Yates as quarterbacks who have won games for the AFC South-leading Texans this season.

Notes: O’Brien said that outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney is day to day with an injured foot, but that there is no structural damage and he could play on Sunday.