POETIC JUSTICE
Here's why every Houston football fan should bask in Texans' big karmic win
Dec 18, 2023, 12:29 pm
Desmond King II and Sheldon Rankins of the Texans crush Titans QB Will Levis. Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images.
Apparently, clothes do not make the man.
The Tennessee Titans, in a screw-you move that would embarrass elementary school yard bullies, decided to wear decades-old, dead-and-gone Houston Oilers uniforms against the actual living, breathing Houston Texans on Sunday, December 17. The Titans even added an extra touch with “Oilers” in each endzone.
Nostalgia took a beating.
The Texans won 19-16 on a Ka’imi Fairbairn 54-yard walk-off field goal in the final seconds of overtime, dealing the Titans’ playoff hopes a death blow in the process (and karmic blow). Nice touch, Texans.
Tennessee hoarding the Oilers’ legacy has been an infuriating, irritating subject for Houston football fans (and legends) since the Titans began recognizing their birthright as Oilers several years ago.
We get the uniforms back.
That’s how this works, I don’t make the rules.
Sorry, not sorry.
Too bad, so sad.
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) December 17, 2023
How it started…
A brief history: the Oilers, who were born in 1960 as an American Football League team, moved from Houston to Tennessee in 1997. The relocated franchise actually played two seasons as the Tennessee Oilers wearing the Oilers celebrated Columbia blue uniforms. The franchise rebranded its name to Titans in 1999 and adopted new team colors.
A few years ago, the Titans began “honoring,” as they put it, their roots as Oilers. This whole Tennessee Oilers reawakening has never sat well with Houston fans who have maintained their recessive love for the original Oilers despite the Houston Texans joining the NFL in 2002.
In Houston, fans consider the Titans donning throwback Oilers uniforms Sunday as a slap in their face and AFC South declaration of war.
It’d be one thing if Nashville had any connection with the oil industry, derricks, gushers, black gold, Texas tea, big money, America’s best BBQ — or, anything that connects with Houston or the Lone Star State for that matter.
Fun fact: you wanna talk oil? Texas produces 1.8 billion barrels of crude a year, by far No. 1 in the United States. Tennessee is No. 46, producing 165,000 barrels, a comparative drop in the gas tank.
Tennessee dressing up as cosplay Oilers? Stop embarrassing yourself.
Entering the 2023 season, the Titans went nuclear by announcing they would wear throwback Oilers uniforms, complete with the word “Oilers” and derrick image on their helmets, for two home games, October 29 against the Atlanta Falcons and December 17 against, here’s a shocker, the Houston Texans.
Yeah, real subtle.
The Titans have nine home games on their schedule. They went out of their way to hold Oilers nostalgia day against Houston.
The Titans basically said, “You don’t like it, Houston? Do something about it.”
…and how it ended
Oh, Houston did. The Texans won despite starting quarterback Case Keenum, who hadn’t started a game since 2021. The Texans played without rookie sensation quarterback C.J. Stroud, electrifying rookie receiver Tank Dell, rookie defensive star Will Anderson Jr., and leading pass catcher Nico Collins.
No, in your face, Tennessee.
(By the way, the price of gas in Tennessee: $2.74 a gallon. In Houston: $2.50. At my corner Valero, $2.38.)
You couldn’t blame Texans fans for being sore winners. Here’s ESPN 97.5 FM talk host Paul Gallant rubbing the Titans’ nose in their humiliating, heartbreaking defeat:
“Some advice: If you're going to troll an entire city for a full week because 25 years ago your dad was too poor to buy his own house in an extremely affordable city, make sure you don't end up losing to a third-string QB while wearing the most valuable thing you own. Life is tough enough when you're living in the shadow of what, the 10th-best football program in the SEC this century? You'd hate to get skid marks all over your pretty clothes after showing your whole ass.”
I understand about half of that, but who cares? The Titans got what they had coming.
The perfect win to watch — almost
For sure Houston laid the smackdown on Tennessee on Sunday … except for one thing.
Football fans in the Volunteer State got to watch the game on local TV. That’s because the Texans-Titans game aired on CBS and Tegna doesn’t own a CBS affiliate in Tennessee.
Back in Houston, Tegna owns KHOU, the CBS affiliate. Tegna and DirecTV are in a pee-ing match over money, and until a settlement is reached, Tegna is blacking out its stations’ programming on DirecTV. So for the past three weeks, DirecTV subscribers haven’t been able to watch Texans games.
This wouldn’t have been so painful in recent years when the Texans sucked, but the Texans are competitive and fun to watch this year. The Texans have three more games this season and they’re all on KHOU. Reportedly no settlement is in sight, and guess what, the Super Bowl will be telecast on CBS in February.
I am a DirecTV subscriber. I wonder how much refund I’ll be getting because these two multi-billion dollar companies don’t give a crap about their customers?
I’m putting the over/under at $0.00
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C.J. Stroud and Anthony Richardson found themselves in the same spot when they met in Week 2 last season.
Both quarterbacks were top-five draft picks, lost their season openers and seemed to be facing a steep learning curve.
Richardson won Round 1 in Houston, although he didn't finish the game.
Stroud took Round 2 in Indianapolis with the injured Richardson watching from the sideline as Texans clinched the AFC South title and Stroud locked up his runaway selection as NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.
On Sunday, each QB begins his second pro season — with a lot still to prove.
“I’m excited. First official game back with my guys and my teammates,” said Richardson, who had season-ending shoulder surgery last October. "I want to win. So, whatever I’ve got to do to do that, I’m going to do it.”
Winning a season opener certainly would be a welcome change for a franchise that last started 1-0 in 2013. The 10-game winless streak is easily the NFL's longest active streak.
But that's just a start for Richardson.
He needs to improve his accuracy after completing a pedestrian 59.5% of his throws in 2023 and must demonstrate he can finish games. He missed 13 last season and only finished one of his four starts because of an assortment of injuries, including the concussion that knocked him out of that Week 2 matchup at Houston after he ran for two scores.
Stroud, meanwhile, is coming off one of the most successful rookie seasons in NFL history.
He became just the third player in a half-century to lead the league in yards passing per game (273.9) and touchdown-to-interception ratio (4.6 to 1), won a playoff game and made hist first Pro Bowl appearance.
How can he improve on a season like that? By showing last season was a building block — not a fluke. He has a stronger supporting cast, too, with Joe Mixon, a four-time 1,000-yard rusher, and Stefon Diggs, who has four straight 100-catch seasons, now in the mix.
The long journey begins Sunday in Indianapolis.
“I want to just start fast,” Stroud said. “It doesn't have to do with a certain game, just in general this season. Last year, we started off really slow and just kind of had to build our way back. It's not an easy thing to do, so I would say this year we want to start fast.”
Nico vs. Colts
Houston receiver Nico Collins had two of his biggest games last season against Indy — catching seven passes for 146 yards and one TD in the Week 2 matchup only to outperform those numbers with a 195-yard day that included a 75-yard TD catch in Week 18.
He could play an even bigger role this time with Indy's young secondary trying to match up not only with Collins but also Diggs, Mixon and tight end Dalton Schultz.
“Nico is a playmaker,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “Every time I see him, he’s a true playmaker. So, you just have to get Nico the ball in any way, shape or fashion. Just find a way to get him the ball just to see how explosive and how dynamic he is.”
Taylor made
Injuries and a contract dispute prevented Jonathan Taylor from replicating the form he used to win the 2021 NFL rushing title. Starting against the Texans could be just what he needs.
In six games against Houston, Taylor has rushed for seven TDs and 135.2 yards per game — his highest average against any team he's faced multiple times. And in that rematch with Houston in Week 18, he finished with 30 carries for 188 yards, the NFL's highest single-game total all season.
Confident Anderson
Houston defensive end Will Anderson, last season’s AP Defensive Rookie of the Year, will play Sunday after recovering from an ankle injury that limited his training camp snaps.
The No. 3 overall pick in 2023 had 45 tackles, 10 for loss, and 7 1/2 sacks as a rookie. He expects to be even better this season.
“I’m way more comfortable,” he said. “Just going into Year 2 knowing the scheme better, knowing what to expect a little bit more and knowing what’s going to happen gives you more confidence.”
Pass rush
The Colts lost their 2023 sacks leader, Samson Ebukam, with a torn Achilles tendon during training. But they may have the perfect replacement.
Laiatu Latu was the first defensive player taken in April's draft, at No. 15 overall, and he's shown coaches that the moves he used to record 23 1/2 sacks over his last two college seasons can work in the NFL.
“We know that there’s going to be a learning curve there," defensive coordinator Gus Bradley said. "We know there are going to be plays that we’re going to come in and say there were some good plays, and there were plays he wishes he had back — we understand that. But just his overall mentality and skill set, we’re very excited to see.”