Lamar Jackson Possibly Out Sunday: Four Times Opposing Backup QBs Ruined the Houston Texans

After pitching a 26-0 shutout against the woeful Tennessee Titans this past weekend, and moving their record on the season to 1-3, it appears as though the Houston Texans might be catching their first big break of the 2025 season. The Texans are scheduled to face the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday in Baltimore, and it appears there is a good chance that perennial MVP candidate Lamar Jackson might miss the game with a pulled hamstring. 

The early reports were that Jackson could miss the next two or three weeks, which obviously would eliminate him from Sunday’s game, but Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network left the door slightly ajar for Jackson to play on Sunday:

If I had to bet, I would bet against Jackson playing, if for no other reason than the big sports books have all made the Texans a slight favorite to win. If Jackson were healthy, the Ravens would likely be favored by more than a touchdown. Vegas is usually pretty good at getting these injury situations correct. 

So it’s not 100 percent that Jackson won’t go, but the odds are stacked in the Texans’ favor. However, here is what we need to guard against — overconfidence, complacency, and presumption. In other words, don’t just assume that Cooper Rush, Jackson’s backup, can’t win this game on Sunday! 

If you’re one of those people yelling at your computer screen for me to shut up, that I worry too much, here are some historical examples where Texan fans (and maybe even the Texans themselves) underestimated a backup quarterback: 

2005, Week 12 vs St. Louis: Rams 33, Texans 27 (OT) 

Before he became the legend just known as “Fitzy,” Ryan Fitzpatrick was a late round draft pick from Harvard, and in 2005, as a rookie, he came in as a replacement for a concussed Jamie Martin, and threw for over 300 yards while engineering a comeback from down 27-17 with under 30 seconds left in the game. The Rams would win in overtime on a walk off touchdown by Kevin Curtis.

2015, Week 5 vs Indianapolis: Colts 27, Texans 20

Like this coming Sunday, the 2015 Texans entered Week 5 with a 1-3 record and were facing a backup quarterback. This time it was veteran Matt Hasselbeck, replacing the injured Andrew Luck. To compound the Texans’ chances at victory in this game, Hasselbeck was dealing with a stomach bug in this game. It didn’t matter, as the Colts pulled out a 27-20 win, and the Texans benched their starting QB, Ryan Mallett. 

2016, Week 3 at New England: Patriots 27, Texans 0

Fast forward almost a year, and it happened again. The Texans appeared to be the beneficiary of the schedule maker, as Tom Brady was forced to miss the first four games of the 2016 season with a suspension from the Deflate-Gate scandal. Not only did the Texans miss Brady on the schedule, but his backup Jimmy Garoppolo was also injured, so the Texans faced rookie Jacoby Brissett. The Texans were actually one point favorites IN NEW ENGLAND for this game, but it didn’t matter. Bill Belichick and the Patriots pitched a shutout, defeating the Texans, 27-0.

2018, Week 2 at Tennessee: Titans 20, Texans 17

Finally, this one came back in 2018, in the second week of Deshaun Watson’s second season in the NFL. Blaine Gabbert would start in place of Marcus Mariota for the Titans. With the help of a conservative game plan on offense, and one massive fake punt trick play for a touchdown on special teams, the Titans would upset the Texans, 20-17. 

The Houston Texans and Baltimore Ravens kick off at noon on Sunday. Fans can hear the game on SportsRadio 610, and watch on CBS. J.J. Watt will be calling his first Texans game as a CBS color analyst.

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