Matt Schaub Injury: 5 Replacements for the Wounded Houston Texans QB

What was supposed to be a dream season for the Houston Texans, with a playoff berth all but assured in a weak AFC South sans Peyton Manning, ran into another injurious impediment Sunday.

Quarterback Matt Schaub hurt his foot during a 37-9 shellacking of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, Schaub will miss the remainder of the season with a Lisfranc injury.

Houston has a bye in Week 11 to sort out its situation under center before embarking on a reasonably navigable stretch run.

Their upcoming schedule features four eminently winnable games—at Jacksonville, versus Carolina, at Indianapolis and versus Tennessee—along with two challenging contests against Atlanta and at Cincinnati.

Now the task will fall to Kubiak and the Texans' front office to figure out how best to cope with their quarterback's absence.

These five gunslingers will figure prominently into those discussions.

Matt Leinart

Matt Leinart will get the first crack at filling in for Schaub. The former USC stud (and Arizona Cardinals dud) has already been penciled in as the starter for Week 12 against the Jaguars.

Leinart has yet to throw a single pass in a Texans uniform and, in fact, hasn't chucked the ball once in a regular season game since 2009.

And for good reason. Leinart sports a career completion percentage of just 57.1 percent and significantly more interceptions (20) than touchdowns (14) in his NFL career.

The 2004 Heisman Trophy winner had the opportunity to join forces with former Trojans head coach Pete Carroll in Seattle this summer, but turned it down for another season as Schaub's backup.

Now, Leinart will have the opportunity to strut his stuff for all Houstonians to see.

And by "strut his stuff," I mean hand the ball off to Arian Foster and Ben Tate on nearly every play.

TJ Yates

If Leinart languishes in the limelight for the Texans, the task will then fall to TJ Yates to handle the starting duties.

I know what you're thinking—who in East Texas is TJ Yates?

First of all, that's Taylor Jonathan to you!

Secondly, Yates is a rookie, a fifth-round pick out of North Carolina in the 2011 NFL Draft who has yet to play a single regular-season snap in the NFL.

He may not be the most well-known option, but at least he's on the roster and knows the offense, right?

Right?

Ah heck, he'll be fine as long as he knows how to hand the ball off to Houston's spectacular stable of running backs.

Brett Favre

Somewhere in the South (the state of Mississippi, to be exact), Brett Favre is sitting by the phone, not necessarily waiting for a call from the Texans but perhaps expecting a call from general manager Rick Smith.

Sure, Favre says he's retired, but who's to say he wouldn't want to take one last shot at a Super Bowl? After all, the Texans may yet be the best team in the AFC and, with a 7-3 record, are all but guaranteed to at least make the playoffs by way of the AFC South crown.

Certainly, Bretty Boy wouldn't mind making a run at a championship with a team that sports a spectacular ground game and one of the NFL's stingiest defenses.

Assuming, of course, that he's healthy. Then again, even Brett Favre on one leg/shoulder/working brain hemisphere is better than an able-bodied Leinart or Yates.

And who in their right mind wouldn't tune in to see Favre take on Aaron Rodgers and the Packers in the Super Bowl if Houston were to make it all the way to Indianapolis?

Marc Bulger

If the Texans can't lure Favre out of retirement, they could always try their pitch with Marc Bulger. The 34-year old Pittsburgh native called it quits this summer after turning down a number of offers to play this season, including one from the Arizona Cardinals.

Maybe he just wasn't too keen to fill Kurt Warner's shoes again.

Either way, Bulger is still sitting on his couch somewhere, resting an arm with which he had considerable success in eight years playing for the St. Louis Rams.

Now, Bulger is hardly a game-changer, especially with all the rust left on his bones, but if Houston can lure him back to the field, he should be more than capable of managing the team's offense in Matt Schaub's stead.

Jim Sorgi

Supposing retirees aren't Houston's bag, Jim Sorgi figures to be the team's best bet.

No, Sorgi's not the most experienced signal caller on the market—he's thrown just 156 passes in seven NFL seasons—but he knows the AFC South better than most, having spent his first four years in the pros with the Indianapolis Colts.

Sorgi never really got a fair shot to prove himself in the NFL, though he completed 63.5 percent of his passes and threw six touchdowns against just one pick when he did.

In other words, the Texans would be wise to sign Sorgi to shore up their depth under center and ensure the franchise's first-ever playoff berth.