Raiders to start McCown against Houston

The Raiders have scored just 23 points on offense over the last three weeks while Daunte Culpepper has accounted for four interceptions and six fumbles. Still, it came as mild surprise Thursday when Oakland coach Lane Kiffin named Josh McCown the team’s starting quarterback for Sunday’s game against Houston.

Josh McCown hasn’t played since suffering a broken big toe on his left foot during a Week 3 win over Cleveland. He only recently returned to practice and didn’t start taking full reps with the offense until last week.

“I felt Daunte played really well for us,” Kiffin said, “but with Josh coming back and looking healthy again, we're going to go back with Josh.”

The Raiders were 1-3 with Culpepper at quarterback but have dropped their last three straight games and have scored only two offensive touchdowns in that span.

In their last two games, the Raiders were driving for potential game-winning scores in the fourth quarter only to have their hopes die on interceptions by Culpepper. Overall, Culpepper has passed for 817 yards with four touchdowns and four interceptions. He also has seven fumbles.

Whether McCown can do better remains up for debate. He was 1-2 as a starter and had completed 64.7 percent of his throws, but also had five interceptions and owned a mediocre rating of 75.2.

McCown was also booed unmercifully by Raiders fans during the team’s first two home games.

“It is what it is,” McCown said. “We’ve got a job to do. We’re 2-5. That’s what I’m concerned with, that we’re 2-5 and we need to get a win and that offensively we need to produce.”