In a scenario the Houston Texans never would have envisioned at the beginning of the season, the NFL franchise – which is tied for first place in the AFC South with two games left to play – have benched the quarterback they rewarded with a $72 million contract in the offseason.

Brock Osweiler’s poor play finally forced Texans coach Bill O’Brien to yank him off the field last Sunday, as he turned to backup quarterback and Springfield native Tom Savage, who led the team to a 21-20 comeback win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Savage, whose salary is $600,000 this season, threw for 260 yards in less than three quarters, after Osweiler tossed a pair of early interceptions.

The Cardinal O’Hara High School graduate will make the first start of his three-year, NFL career against the Cincinnati Bengals on Christmas Eve.

“(I) feel like Tom Savage gives us the best chance to win,” O’Brien said, according to Frank Schwab of Yahoo! Sports. “We will see what he can do for us Saturday against the Bengals.”

Texans owner Bob McNair, who wanted a new quarterback this past offseason and has supported Osweiler through his struggles, seemed to be on board with the team going to Savage.

“I’m just glad I wasn’t the one that had to make that decision,” McNair said. “I mean, that was a gutsy call. Give coach credit: He made a change, and it was for the good of the team. We benefited from it. Now we have three good quarterbacks, and we are proud of all of them.”

O’Brien praised Savage for his proficiency against the Jaguars.

“I thought he threw the ball very accurately,” he said. “I thought he made the right reads. It wasn’t perfect. There were some things that he needs to improve on, but I thought he made some good throws, made some big throws. A couple on third down. A couple down the field. Some were caught. Some weren’t caught, but I thought they were in the right spot.”