Texans vs. Rams: Matt Schaub must prove his worth this Sunday

Oct 6, 2013; San Francisco, CA, USA; Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub (8) looks to throw a pass against the San Francisco 49ers in the second quarter at Candlestick Park. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

I’ve backed Houston Texans starting quarterback Matt Schaub for awhile now, but this weekend, the 10-year veteran signal caller must prove his worth against the St. Louis Rams.

Though the Rams are also 2-3 this season, they do have a decent defense and defense backs that are capable of making Schub’s life uncomfortable for a few hours when he’s under center this Sunday.

Schaub, when talking to the Houston media Wednesday said it was great knowing head coach Gary Kubiak named him the starting quarterback for the upcoming rams game.

“It was great. It’s the confidence from the top,” Schaub said. “For him to say that and stand behind me after all that we’ve been through, that says a lot about him and about our team and where we’re going. It’s an opportunity to go out and correct some of the mistakes that we’ve been making.”

Just looking at the situation from afar, both the head coach and starting quarterback will only go as far as the other can help them. What I’m saying is if Schaub doesn’t go far and the Texans would happen to fall to 2-4 on the season, that could start affecting Kubiak’s job status as well.

“I never was worried about that,” Schaub said of not starting. “I’m a quarterback of this team. I’ve worked very hard to be in this position and be the quarterback for this team. My focus is to go out and give my team a chance to win on Sunday.”

The Texans better win, or at least not look inept on offense against a two-win team.

Take that back … they better win, any way possible, because if they would lose their fourth straight game, especially at home, I wouldn’t want to face that backlash of boos and anger.

The Texans can’t lose this game.

Even though I think the Texans are more than capable of defeating the Rams this weekend, I always go back to telling myself this is the NFL and anything can happen.

How many of us would have guessed the New York Giants would be 0-5 before their week six game, and the Pittsburgh Steelers would be in the same situation?

Those two Super Bowl winning franchises not having a win is really surprising, and I can’t remember either of those teams starting 0-5 at the same time in a given season.

But with Schaub and the Texans, he has the public support of his teammates, his head coach and even some of the Texans’ fans, so his season isn’t lost, but it is well on the way of traveling down an unpaved one-way street with all the recent interceptions for touchdowns.

Schaub said of his teammates support:  “Whenever your teammates stand behind you as a player and a coach when he makes decisions and you have that type of relationship, it speaks volumes,” the QB said. “At the end of the day, it’s all about us in that locker room. It’s about us on the field, between the white lines getting things done.”

I disagree to a point that at the end of the day it is all about those in the locker room, because the fans of the Texans are a big part of the tradition of Houston football in general, not just with the Texans.

Sure, a handful of fans have taken their anger too far with jersey burnings and driving past his house according to reports, but Schaubs’s problems and the Texans’ problems also affect the fans. Remember without the fans, all teams would be playing inside an empty stadium every week.

Anyway you look at it, Schaub must prove his worth this week, because if he has another lackluster performance, it might just be time for him to take a seat, but I think this is the week everything turns around for the embattled quarterback in Houston, but on second thought, I could be wrong, again.