Matt Schaub is in the Pro Bowl this year. That means less now than it before they scheduled the Pro Bowl such that the Super Bowl participants couldn't make it, and it means even less for Schaub now than it did when he made it in 2009.
Schaub threw for more than 4,000 yards this season and led the Texans to the AFC South championship. But he played poorly enough in the playoffs that a lot of Texans fans -- maybe the majority -- have turned on him.
It means Schaub and coach Gary Kubiak have a lot of reiterating to do -- reiterating their belief that Schaub is capable of winning a Super Bowl.
"Absolutely I can," Schaub told the Houston Chronicle. "With the guys that we have and the way our team is built, I definitely think so. I've had that confidence in myself ever since I started playing. I always knew that I could do that. We have the right guys and the right coaches and … the right system."
Kubiak has supported Schaub since the season ended, too.
"I believe in Matt.," Kubiak said the day after Houston's loss to New England in the AFC Divisional Playoffs. "He's the quarterback of our football team, I've got no doubt about him. I think over the course of the last two years he’s won 70-plus percent of his starts. That’s hard to do in this league. I feel very good about our quarterback."
Schaub, who turns 32 in June, completed 64 percent of his passes for 4,008 yards, 22 touchdowns and 12 interceptions during the regular season. In the playoffs, he completed 70 percent of his throws for more than 300 yards per game and two touchdown passes. But he had two interceptions and a fumble and often appeared overwhelmed by pass rushes.
The Texans don't have a quarterback controversy in the traditional sense, because neither of their two backups -- T.J. Yates and Case Keenum -- are considered serious alternatives. Kubiak was asked if the team would consider drafting a quarterback in the second or third round this year, and didn't really say.
"Well, we always look at everything," he said. "We get ready for the draft and those types of things."
