Brock Osweiler vs. Connor Cook

January football should be the creme de la creme of talent and matchups. But it does not always work out that way.

Elite quarterbacks take the field come playoff time; Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Matt Ryan and even Matthew Stafford, Eli Manning and Dak Prescott. But it does not always work out perfectly with elite quarterback play.

The Kansas City Chiefs are still elite with the forever mediocre Alex Smith. But the AFC is riddled with quarterback injuries late in the year. Matt Moore faces daunting Heinz Field and the red hot Steelers. But the Raiders and Texans have a very interesting situation; both of them lack true quarterbacks.

Audiences and media cringe at this matchup because no one wants to see Brock Osweiler and Connor Cook duke it out on the gridiron. Both have never played in the playoffs, while Cook becomes the first player to ever start their first game in the playoffs.

Oakland has the deeper roster, but at a huge disadvantage. This is a quarterback driven team that lacks sound defense. Houston on the other hand had success despite never having a franchise quarterback. During their four playoff seasons, Matt Schaub, T.J. Yates, Matt Leinart, Ryan Mallett, Brian Hoyer, and Brandon Weeden alongside Brock Osweiler and Tom Savage all started for Houston.

Brock Osweiler’s struggles are well documented with more interceptions thrown than touchdowns for an abysmal passer rating of 72.2. He can turn over a new leaf by claiming the third playoff victory in franchise history.

New England is licking their chops as they get to face Cook, Osweiler or Matt Moore in the divisional round. Their defense allows a league-best 15.6 points per game.

So, while everyone is riding this game off in disgust as it is just a precursor to an inevitable bloodbath in Foxborough; let’s take a minute to enjoy this matchup.

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We have seen plenty of unproven backup quarterbacks play in the postseason. Tavaris Jackson and Joe Webb represented Minnesota and despite heroic seasons from Adrian Peterson, both quarterbacks failed to get a playoff win. John Kitna went into January for Carson Palmer in 2005 and soon got destroyed by Pittsburgh en route to their Super Bowl win. Todd Collins made his first start in 10 years for Washington in the playoffs, where they lost and ended their tumultuous season that involved the loss of Sean Taylor.

Success has been few and far between, but not out of the question. Tim Tebow won a playoff game against Pittsburgh despite completing only 10 passes. Colin Kaepernick went 5-2 during the second half of the regular season which led to the decision for him to start in January, where they went all the way to the Super Bowl.

It’s time to sit back and enjoy as it is fun to watch diversity for teams and their responses and whether any of these backups, Matt Moore included, can join the elite list of great backup performances.

The Oakland Raiders and Houston Texans kick off the playoffs January 7th at 4:35 eastern time.

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