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Jack Dempsey/Associated Press

Ryan Fitzpatrick wasn't as sharp as he was last week against Atlanta, but he wasn't as bad as he was against Arizona; he was somewhere in between, which is likely where he'll sit during the regular season as well.

Against Denver, Fitzpatrick was just average, which is what he's been over the majority of his career.

With the exception of one pass that should have been picked near the end of the half, he didn't force many bad passes but also didn't show the same playmaking ability as last week when hit passes down field and made plays with his legs.

His pass protection wasn't great at times, but Fitzpatrick definitely took a step back from last week.

Now to Case Keenum.

#Texans' Fitzpatrick, Keenum are a combined 21 of 35 for 147 yards, 4.1 yards-per-pass average. #NFL #Broncos — Brian T. Smith (@ChronBrianSmith) August 24, 2014

Let me just get this out here no matter how unpopular the opinion might be: The Texans cutting Keenum would be a reasonable move.

He was outplayed by rookie Tom Savage in the game against Denver and has shown no visible signs of improvement going back to his final five games last season when he struggled to the tune of two touchdowns with six interceptions.

Keenum still misses what should be easy blitz pickups, holds on to the ball way too long, creates pressure by unnecessarily moving outside the pocket and makes too many poor decisions with passes attempted into double, triple and sometimes even quadruple coverage.

Such a mixed bag with Keenum. Outside the numbers efficient, inside the numbers struggles. #Texans — PDS (@PatDStat) August 24, 2014

If you just look at Keenum's stat line it doesn't look that bad, but what that stat line doesn't show you are the three to four passes he threw into tight coverage that should have been picked.

Two near-picks on that drive by Case Keenum. Had been moving pretty smoothly, though, until the end of that drive. #Texans — Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) August 24, 2014

He does some things well, but he doesn't do them frequently enough, and he still has major flaws that don't appear to be improving at all. Savage is the future among this group of quarterbacks, so if he's already playing equal or better than Keenum, then why keep Keenum? Save the roster spot to use elsewhere.

On the other hand, the stat line from Savage was a sparkling 5-of-6 for 68 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions and a nearly perfect 153.5 QB rating. Yes, it was against backups, but Keenum was also playing against backups. Savage played well; Keenum did not. End of story in my opinion.

Grade: C+