Houston Texans: A.J. McCarron could play for Deshaun Watson in Week 17
The Houston Texans will all but be the No. 4 seed in the AFC Playoffs, and reports are starters could take a rest in Week 17, meaning A.J. McCarron could play on Sunday.
Once the Houston Texans take the field on Sunday afternoon at 3:25 p.m. CT they will already know if there is a chance for them to improve on their playoff seeding in the AFC, depending on the result of the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Los Angeles Chargers game.
It is being reported by Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle that the Texans will be resting their top players, as he stated in a tweet Sunday morning on Twitter:
Texans expected to rest multiple starters against Titans in advance of likely playoff game next Saturday, currently slated to host Bills. Among key players who could be rested: Deshaun Watson, Laremy Tunsil, Bradley Roby, DeAndre Hopkins. A.J. McCarron would step in for Watson
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) December 29, 2019
The hope is the Chiefs lose their game in the early afternoon schedule on Sunday, and the Texans can have something to play for in their. A Chiefs loss and a Texans win would move Houston up to the No. 3 seed in the AFC Playoff bracket.
On the other hand if the No. 4 seed is set in stone with a Chiefs win, then why not bring on A.J. McCarron and other backup players during this game? McCarron could even be the starting quarterback on Sunday afternoon against the Tennessee Titans in Week 17 as the Texans have already clinched the AFC South championship as well.
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Already playing in one game this season, McCarron was 0-for-1 passing against the Baltimore Ravens, but also had one rush for 10 yards in that same game in Week 11.
For his career, McCarron has played in 14 games combined with the Cincinnati Bengals (11), the Oakland Raiders (2) and the aforementioned one game with the Texans this season.
McCarron has thrown six career touchdown passes and two interceptions. He also made his last start in 2015 for the Bengals where he started the final three regular season games, plus started a playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, losing by a score of 18-16.
If there is no chance for the Texans to improve their playoff positioning on Sunday in Week 17 then it is understandable to not play Deshaun Watson and company for the entire game.
Watson has done enough this regular season, so if Bill O’Brien believes he doesn’t need to get Watson any reps on Sunday, and treat it as a bye week type of game, that is understandable.
Resting the big stars will most likely happen in this game, and that is fine because the bigger picture is next weekend for the Texans, but the only concern for resting the star players is not being in a good rhythm going into the Wild Card weekend.
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Give us your thoughts on the Texans resting players in Week 17. Are you for or against it in the game against the Titans today?