***SWAMPA CLAUS XMAS EVE SPECIAL - CIN @ HOU***
***CINCINNATI BENGALS @ HOUSTON TEXANS***
Tonight the Houston Texans will host the Cincinnati Bengals in the Prime Time Christmas Eve spotlight. Houston is currently tied at the top of the AFC South with the Tennessee Titans and the third place Indianapolis Colts are a game behind them both. That being said, the heat is on for the Division title with two weeks to go and Houston facing off against Tennessee in week 17. Things have been pretty strange this season for this Houston Texans team. They have been consistently inconsistent, if that makes any sense. The main reason for the madness is the poor play from who they thought was their new franchise QB, Brock Osweiler. The Brockweiler was so bad last outing at home against a lowly Jaguars team that after two interceptions and another inept offensive performance and trailing in the game, Head Coach Bill O'Brien made a power move and benched him for a third year QB, the mystery man Tom Savage. The Houston crowd went absolutely NUTS when the move was made, the Texans players couldn't even hear in the huddle and had to request the crowd quiet down. It proved to be the right move for O'Brien and the Texans as Savage was able to lead Houston back to a clutch victory over the Jaguars to keep their playoff hopes alive. Savage was the complete opposite of Osweiler, he was comfortable and playing like he has nothing to lose, and that's because he doesn't. Savage has absolutely zero expectations weighing on him where Osweiler had signed the gigantic contract this offseason and was thought to be the savior for this franchise. Needless to say the pressure proved to be too big for the young man and he has failed miserably. With Osweiler clearly in his own head and in a funk, Xmas has come early for Mr. Savage and the opportunity is there for him to pull a savage move indeed by stealing an starting QB job for a possible NFL Playoff team. That would be a pretty awesome Xmas gift, if your Savage of course as it's only coal for the Brockster this season! With Savage at QB, the offense sparked instantly. WRs DeAndre Hopkins and Will Fuller to come alive as they have been ghosts for the majority of this season with Osweiler. It was evident that these guys enjoyed the QB switch as well and have upped their level of play and now become much more of a threat since Savage has shown no fear of chucking the rock downfield.
The Bengals have fallen on hard times this year. With their playoff hopes gone the wind, the clear highpoint left for them was last week at home against their rival the Pittsburgh Steelers in a major revenge spot for many reasons. The Bengals came to play and jumped out to an early lead but were unable to score at all in the second half and collapsed, allowing Steelers QB Big Ben Rothlisberger and his offense to eventually take the lead and win the game. This was a tough loss so to speak, and I got to believe the Bengals will find it hard to build up some motivation coming off what was pretty much their Super Bowl, to play a meaningless game against a Houston Texans squad primed and motivated to make a big playoff push at home. Other than playing spoiler in the National spotlight, it is going to be hard for the Bengals to match the effort level that the Texans will surely give tonight. Not to mention the amount of injuries the Bengals are now faced with. There was high hopes of their stud WR A.J. Green making his return to action tonight but he has now been ruled out, as well as TE Tyler Eifert who is a major target for QB Andy Dalton, and now possibly RB Jeremy Hill who has been the workhorse for them lately. The Texans defense has been great as of late and DE Jadaveon Clowney has really come into his own and is finally looking like the top overall pick in the draft in 2014. He has really taken over since DE J.J. Watt went down with an injury and has been a very pleasant surprise for Houston. I foresee him and this defense feeding off the home crowd's energy and getting after QB Andy Dalton tonight to bring home the bacon on Christmas Eve. From the looks of it as I type this, the Titans are being upset at the moment by the Jaguars, meaning Houston could clinch the AFC South and be playoff bound with a big win here tonight. I say Savage has himself a game and gets it done! TEXANS-3
