The Texans benched their starting quarterback for the second time in the first four weeks on Sunday afternoon when they put Brian Hoyer back into the lineup to replace Ryan Mallett with the Falcons ahead 42-0 in the second half.
While there were obviously problems across the board for things to get that out of hand, Mallett wasn’t helping the cause by going 12-of-27 for 150 yards and an interception. Hoyer led the Texans to three late touchdowns while going 17-of-30 for 232 yards, which meant coach Bill O’Brien got questions about who would start in Week Five against the Colts. He wasn’t willing to make a commitment to either player, although he said the score of the game was the immediate reason for the change.
“It was 42-0,” O’Brien said, via the Houston Chronicle. “I’ll have to watch the film. Again, we just made some substitutions.”
The Texans replaced Hoyer after the first week of the season and Mallett has gone 63-of-124 for 622 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions in his three starts for the team. The Texans play again on Thursday, which would usually leave too little time for a quarterback change but Hoyer’s prior experience in the top job could alleviate that concern when it comes time to name this week’s starter.
Whoever starts Thursday, the Texans finding themselves in this position for a second time a quarter of the way through the season makes it clear that the Texans don’t have the right answer at quarterback on their roster right now.