The Houston Texans nearly blew the playoffs with Case Keenum

The Houston Texans were lucky to get out of Nashville with a win over the Tennessee Titans. The team needed every available second of action across four quarters and one overtime period to put the Titans away 19-17, and a big reason why was due to the poor play at quarterback. Case Keenum got the start over Davis Mills, with both men trying to fill in for the injured C.J. Stroud.

Stroud suffered a concussion against the New York Jets and was ruled out for the Sunday game against the Titans. Mills was originally thought to have been tabbed for the game, as he has served as Stroud's backup all season, but then the last-minute decision to go with Keenum was made and the journeymen quarterback had the entire franchise's playoff fate on his shoulders.

Despite flaming out in Denver, Washington, and Cleveland, the Texans still felt that Keenum could get the job done. After all, he was from the area, went to school at the University of Houston, and was picked up by the Texans as a rookie; playing his first few seasons in the NFL for the Texans, before he started his traveling ways.

Yet, he was not known for his big arm and was very much just a game manager at this point. The obvious goal was for the team to lean on running back Devin Singletary and just let Keenum not make mistakes. Yet, he did just that. A few horrible passes nearly doomed the Texans, with one being so badly thrown that the Titans were able to very easily being picked off.

Keenum didn't look great, and it brought up the question of "Can Mills do better?" Maybe he can, but while there's going to be debate over who should start in lieu of Stroud; Mills or Keenum, the real question that should be asked is "Will Stroud be cleared for Sunday's game against the Cleveland Browns?"

Because, at the end of the day, Mills and Keenum are simply spot-holders to Stroud.