For the second time since taking over as the starting quarterback, Case Keenum was relieved by Matt Schaub in the third quarter of a loss.
The Texans fell to the Jaguars on Thursday night in Jacksonville, as the Keenum/Schaub combo went a combined 33-of-58 for 357 yards, with two touchdowns and a pair of interceptions. Head coach Gary Kubiak said he made the switch at the 4:10 mark in the third for a simple reason.
"I just thought Matt gave us the best chance to win," Kubiak said. "I thought Case was struggling and
we were down by 14. We needed to go as fast as we could go and I knew Matt would go in there and play well. Unfortunately, we didn't finish the deal."
Keenum threw an 8-yard second quarter touchdown pass to Keshawn Martin to make it 14-7 Jacksonville. On the Texans' next possession, though, Keenum was picked off by Alan Ball with 1:03 remaining in the half. Josh Scobee kicked a 40-yard field goal before the intermission, and the Jaguars held a 17-7 advantage at the break.
Keenum came out of the locker room and was under center for the first three drives of the half. On the first, the Texans punted after picking up one first down. The second ended with a Randy Bullock 34-yard field goal, and the third resulted in a punt after going three-and-out. When he was asked about his performance, Keenum said he didn't do "well enough" to stay in the game.
"I thought we moved the ball well at times," Keenum said. "Obviously that pick right before the half was not good. That's not smart football."
Schaub entered the game and engineered a 7-play, 76-yard scoring drive that lasted 3:02, and was capped by his 5-yard touchdown pass to Garrett Graham. He followed that up with a 11-play, 55-yard field goal drive that burned 3:21 off the clock. The Texans trailed 24-20 at that juncture, with 11:31 left in the contest.
"I tried to get into the normal flow of the game and spread them out and just try to make plays, Schaub said. "The offensive line did a great job protecting and we tried to get in a position to score points."
The field goal drive was followed by a possession that ended on downs. The next concluded with an interception, and the final drive of the game saw Schaub get sacked for an 18-yard loss deep in Houston's own territory.
"Matt came in and did a tremendous job," Kubiak said. "He gave us a chance to win the game. Unfortunately it's a lot like some of the other games: you come up a few plays short."
Schaub was 17-of-29 for 198 yards and a quarterback rating of 76.5. Keenum, meanwhile, completed 16-of-29 pases for 159 yards and a rating of 68.0.
