Bill O’Brien says he did not consider benching Brian Hoyer despite the quarterback having an awful game against the Kansas Chiefs in the playoffs on Saturday.
Hoyer went 15-of-34 for 136 yards, four interceptions, and a fumble in the Houston Texans’ 30-0 defeat. He threw an interception at the goal line, and his five turnovers prevented the Texans from having a shot at winning the game.
Even though Hoyer was terrible and his poor play was apparent from the start, O’Brien says he did not think about benching the quarterback.
“I did not consider that. I felt like sticking with him was the right thing to do,” O’Brien said after the game.
Houston had another option at quarterback in Brandon Weeden. The former Cowboys backup was picked up by the Texans in December and went 2-0 in two starts, throwing for three touchdowns and no interceptions in those games.
Why didn’t O’Brien try Weeden?
O'Brien said Brandon Weeden getting basically no reps in practice this week was a factor in his wanting to stay with Brian Hoyer. #Texans
— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) January 10, 2016
Hoyer, who otherwise had a very solid season for the Texans, was quite disappointed with himself for his performance.
“I picked the wrong time to have the worst game,” he said after the game. “It’s tough. Own up to it and learn from it. Embarassing.”
Hoyer threw for 19 touchdowns and seven interceptions on the season, while the team went 5-7 in games he played (he did split action early in the season with Ryan Mallett), including the playoffs. While Hoyer was good enough to use a spectacular defense and get his team to the playoffs, his terrible game on Saturday has to give the Texans reason to question whether they can enter next season with him as their starting quarterback.
