Any momentum built up by Brock Osweiler's gunslinger comeback against the Colts a week ago was lost amid a 27-9 loss on Monday Night Football.
According to NFL research, his 3.2 yards per pass attempt was the third worst in a game with a player attempting 40 or more passes in the Super Bowl era.
Coach Bill O'Brien said "we got to work on the passing game and try to fix that and learn from our mistakes." But the real hammer was dropped -- not surprisingly -- by former Osweiler teammate and Broncos hype man Aqib Talib.
"If you look at it overall, (Elway) saved a bunch of money. And (Trevor Siemian) is a great quarterback, man. He's better than Brock in my eyes. So it's a win-win situation," Talib told Lindsay H. Jones of USA Today.
While this can never accurately be boiled down to quarterback vs. quarterback, Siemian was operating at a different level last night. Perhaps some of this was buoyed by the fact that he has a clearly superior defense and a better offensive line. But he's also playing with far more confidence.
The touch on the back shoulder fade Siemian threw to Emmanuel Sanders at the end of the third quarter, which set up the team's first third-quarter touchdown of the year, was fantastic and far above anything we saw in terms of advanced professional throws from Osweiler. Major questions about mid and deep-range accuracy, as well as poise and timing are starting to brew in Houston.
There were signs last night that mocked Osweiler's hefty four-year, $72 million contract but in reality, this isn't about money. Osweiler was supposed to be the missing piece; the one who made games like Monday night's competitive for a Texans team that has a lot of other things going for them in the personnel department.
Instead, it was a realization that they are working with the same replacement-level, foundation quarterback that they've had for years. A Brian Hoyer with more size and athleticism who is slightly less turnover prone.
