No one can accuse Texans owner Bob McNair of being cheap. But we can debate what he’s done to cheapen the power of certain words.
After yesterday’s loss to the Packers, the Texans owner had nothing but praise for Brock Osweiler, his $72 million quarterback with a 74.2 passer rating.
“I thought he played great,” McNair said, via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. “He played as well as his competitor did. If not for the passes that were dropped, his grade would have been higher than [Packers quarterback Aaron] Rodgers. Don’t be critical of him. He played well.”
That sounds a little like begging, after spending huge free agent money on a pig in a poke in hopes of answering a long-standing issue with his roster. And with the Texans the same 6-6 they’ve seemingly been ever since they broke poor Matt Schaub, it’s hard to look at Osweiler and think “Yeah, there’s the answer.”
In fairness, Osweiler wasn’t awful yesterday, a serviceable 22-of-35 for 202 yards and two touchdowns. But he led the league with 13 picks walking into Lambeau Field (Blake Bortles and Philip Rivers passed him yesterday), so not adding fuel to the fire isn’t the same as putting one out.
Afterward, he said the Texans were “very close to exploding as an offense,” which might be true if you’re the hopeful sort. But that’s not the same as “great.”