QUESTIONABLE CALL?

Doubling down on Savage needs to pay off big for Texans’ O’Brien

Tom Savage better be good. Real good.

Bill O’Brien, the backup quarterback whisperer, is in a shouldwin, if not must-win situation.

He has a playoff-caliber — make that a Super Bowl-caliber — defense that if provided a better-than-average offense, could make some serious noise in the AFC.

While it isn’t likely that Savage can lead such an offense, O’Brien has determined that leaving rookie Deshaun Watson waiting in the wings is the better play. We’ll see if it is the smart play once the season begins.

In three years with the Texans, O’Brien has made more not-so-smart quarterback decisions than smart ones.

Need I mention that the watchand-improve method of developing NFL quarterbacks went out around the turn of the century? Yeah, millennials killed that, too.

The Texans’ situation is particularly unique in that Watson will not sit behind an established veteran who knows how to play the position.

Savage may be more familiar with O’Brien’s offense, but he still has a lot to learn about the NFL. In three NFL seasons, he has thrown all of 92 passes.

Watson threw more passes in two national championship games against Alabama (103) than that. In the past three years, while Savage was mostly watching football games, Watson threw 1,207 passes for Clemson.

Playing NCAA football isn’t like playing in NFL games, but neither is watching NFL games from the sidelines, which is what Savage has done for 45 of the 50 games he has been a Texan. (And one of his five game appearances was comprised of six plays, four handoffs and two kneel-downs.)

O’Brien has told any and all who ask that Savage is the man and will be the man, because of what he has showed in practice in the three-plus years he has been in the system.

The only thing that has held Savage back, O’Brien says, is bad luck.

Did O’Brien change his name to Bad Luck?

Yes, bad luck hit Savage with a knee injury late in his rookie season, and it tapped him on the shoulder the following year when he suffered a sprain in the last preseason game.

But as I recall, Bad Luck, er, O’Brien kept Savage on the bench for 14 games last season behind woefully ineffective Brock Osweiler.

Savage started and finished against Cincinnati, then went out in the second quarter against the Titans after suffering a bad luck concussion on a quarterback sneak. Of course, O’Brien is the one who made that questionable play call in what was then a meaningless game.

The injury forced Savage to miss the Texans’ playoff game at home against the Raiders while he was

Texans coach Bill O’Brien has heaped praise on Deshaun Watson but opted to start Tom Savage. Brett Coomer photos / Houston Chronicle

in the NFL’s concussion protocol. As luck would have it, Savage was declared healthy and ready to go for the following week’s matchup at New England.

But O’Brien chose not to play him. He didn’t even put Savage in the game as Osweiler attempted 40 passes — three of which were intercepted — yet failed to gain 200 yards.

And, looking further back, it was O’Brien who welcomed Osweiler to Houston in the first place. Osweiler was so good that the Texans paid the Browns a second-round draft pick to

Tom Savage (3) and Brandon Weeden are two of the eight quarterbacks to start during Bill O’Brien’s first three seasons.

take him off their hands.

Why would O’Brien sign off on such a move? O’Brien knew Savage was on the roster and still opted for Osweiler.

And O’Brien was surely excited when the Texans traded next year’s first-round pick to Cleveland to acquire Watson during this year’s draft.

The Browns have the Texans’ firstand second-round picks in the 2018 draft due to some bad luck and a lot of Bad Luck.

If Savage proves to be good, trading up to draft Watson was not the smartest move. If weren’t for Bad Luck … But that would also mean the Texans are having a heck of a season, which is what matters most.

If Savage isn’t good enough to lead the Texans deep into the playoffs, not playing Watson now isn’t as much of a mistake, but it would still be delaying the inevitable. Watson needs the reps. If Savage isn’t good enough to win games, not playing Watson now is a huge mistake. O’Brien needs the wins. And in that case, the Texans will have had enough Bad Luck.