If You're Looking For Something to Watch in Raiders-Texans, Try Connor Cook

There are many angles to take on Saturday's Texans-Raiders Wildcard Weekend opener, but there is one opinion that's shared across the board—the quarterback matchup, which pits massive $72 million disappointment Brock Osweiler against first-time starter Connor Cook, looks absolutely putrid. Even by the low standards that prevail for 4:30 p.m. Wild Card games—the Texans were here last year, and Brian Hoyer's four-interception massacre was the impetus for the Texans shelling out for Osweiler in the first place—this is the type of uninspiring matchup that inspires even diehard to wonder whether they really have to watch.

You don't, but also these are the playoffs, which means millions of people will be tuning in for a game that's likely to make them long for the likes of Ryan Lindley. But there is more at stake here than two teams competing for the chance to go to New England or Kansas City and lose next week. Consider, for one, the vastly different stakes that Osweiler and Cook face.

If Connor Cook has an awful game against the Texans, it probably won't affect him that much. He's a rookie fourth round draft pick, and is making his first career start in the playoffs because the two quarterbacks ahead of him on the depth chart are injured. He is, furthermore, starting against a team known for its defensive prowess. Not only is Cook expected to play poorly, no one would really hold it against him if he did. He'd simply slide back into a third string role behind Derek Carr and Matt McGloin. We'd check back on him in a year or two, or we wouldn't.

But if Cook plays well, he could immediately become a hot commodity in a perpetually quarterback-starved market, especially in a year featuring a weak crop of quarterback prospects in the draft. With Carr locked in for the foreseeable future as the Raiders QB1, a strong performance from Cook could turn him into valuable trade-bait. If that happens, it will happen opposite the most compelling argument against going long on a QB because of a small sample size; that, after all, is exactly how the Texans wound up with their Osweiler conundrum. Those sorts of expensive mistakes should tend to make teams a bit more cautious, but then again Matt Flynn's unjustifiable 3-year, $26 million deal didn't stop Osweiler from getting a much bigger contract despite not having that much more experience. Teams will always be desperate for quarterbacks, and they'll always take chances on them. If Cook plays well, there's no reason to think that he and the Raiders couldn't capitalize on that.

Osweiler is in the opposite situation. He got paid, and then turned in one of the worst quarterback performances in the league this season. He somehow managed to throw more than 500 passes for fewer than 3,000 yards, was benched for Tom Savage, and got another shot after Savage suffered a concussion. In the process, Osweiler became a punchline and a cautionary tale—a big expensive human billboard warning against the risks of reaching for a signal caller. It may not be too soon to call this a make-or-break moment for Osweiler. If he can come through with a good performance and lead the Texans to a victory, he could convince the front office and fans that he's worth giving another shot. If he puts up yet another stinker, the Texans could have no choice but to stash him on the bench next year. This would give the Texans a backup who makes roughly the same amount of money as Russell Wilson and Eli Manning, but it would also free them to try to find another quarterback. Somebody young, maybe, and promising enough to dream on. There's always another one coming.