NFL Playoffs 2017: Who Will The Raiders, Texans, Dolphins Start At Quarterback? First-Round Injury Updates

The days leading up to the first round of the 2017 NFL playoffs have been highlighted by injury news. Multiple starting quarterbacks are hurt and will be forced to miss Wild-Card Weekend.

Saturday’s contest between the Oakland Raiders and Houston Texans features injuries to signal callers on both teams. Houston won’t be able to play their starter of their final two regular-season games, and Oakland will be forced to play a quarterback that’s never started an NFL game in his career.

The Texans will give Brock Osweiler the nod over Tom Savage, though not necessarily because he’s the team’s best option. After underachieving for the entire year, Osweiler was benched in favor of Savage in the team’s Week 15 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Savage went on to start the final two games of the year, but he suffered a concussion in Week 17. He won’t play at all against the Texans. Brandon Weeden has been named the team’s backup quarterback.

Oakland’s starting quarterback has suffered injuries in consecutive weeks, making rookie Connor Cook the likely starter on Wild-Card Weekend. Cook replaced Matt McGloin, who started in Week 17, when the quarterback suffered a shoulder injury, completing 14 of 21 passes for 150 yards in his debut. McGloin says he plans to be “100 percent” Saturday, but he’s not expected to be fully healthy.

McGloin started the season finale in place of Derek Carr, who saw his season end in Week 16 because of a broken fibula. Carr had been an MVP candidate for most of the year, going 12-3 under center.

The other first-round AFC playoff game also features a quarterback injury. While Ben Roethlisberger is usually the banged up signal caller, it’s the Miami Dolphins who are dealing with an injured quarterback in their game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Matt Moore will make his fourth straight start in place of the injured Ryan Tannehill.

Moore has played well in Tannehill’s absence, posting a 105.6 passer rating and throwing eight touchdown passes. Prior to this season, he hadn’t started since 2011.

Every starting quarterback in the NFC is healthy for Wild-Card Weekend. Eli Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson and Matthew Stafford have each played 16 games this year.