How Texans' domination over Titans in finale sets stage for playoffs
BRING ON THE PLAYOFFS!
05 January
Texans defeat the Titans, 23-14. Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images.
C.J. Stroud completed all six of his passes for 50 yards and a touchdown Sunday on the Texans' opening drive before going to the bench as Houston snapped a two-game skid going into the AFC playoffs with a 23-14 victory over the Tennessee Titans.
The Texans (10-7) also avoided being swept by the team they replaced in Houston. The Texans won for the first time since clinching their second straight AFC South title Dec. 15 with a win over Miami.
Now Houston waits to see if the Texans are hosting either the Los Angeles Chargers, who played at the Raiders later Sunday, or Pittsburgh in an AFC wild-card game.
With the loss combined with New England's win over Buffalo, the Titans ' season of misery at least landed them the No. 1 pick overall in the NFL draft in April. Their 3-14 finish matches 2014 for the most losses in a season since relocating from Texas to Tennessee in 1997.
Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said he would decide how long his starters played based on how the game went.
Stroud needed 11 plays and 7:17 on a drive capped with a 2-yard TD pass to Pro Bowl wide receiver Nico Collins for a lead Houston never lost.
Joe Mixon had five carries on that opening drive, then his day was done. Mixon turned cheerleader running down the sideline with a ballcap as Dameon Pierce took his second carry 92 yards for his second rushing TD of the season early in the second quarter for a 13-0 lead.
Pierce finished with a career-high 176 yards rushing. Mixon had 23 yards and surpassed 1,000 for the season.
One of the biggest cheers from the thin crowd on a rainy, cold day came when former University of Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton's 48-yard TD pass putting the Patriots up 14-7 was shown on the video board.
Ka’imi Fairbairn finished the first half with a 27-yard field goal putting the Texans up 16-3.
Tennessee gave second-year quarterback Will Levis his 12th start this season. First-year coach Brian Callahan kept his promise to rotate, putting in veteran Mason Rudolph on the fourth possession. Rudolph guided the Titans to a pair of field goals by Matthew Wright.
Levis had the better day despite a botched handoff returned for a fumble. He finished with 175 yards passing and a 49-yard TD pass to Tay Martin with 2:41 left.
Big man TD
Defensive end Derek Barnett got the ball on a botched handoff by Levis to Tony Pollard early in the fourth and went 36 yards for the TD and a 23-6 lead. It was Barnett's second such return for a TD this season and third of his career.
Barnett not only played in college at Tennessee, he played high school ball at a Nashville suburb.
Injuries
Texans WR John Metchie was being evaluated in the concussion protocol after being hurt on an incompletion late in the third quarter that drew an unnecessary roughness penalty. LB Jake Hansen hurt an ankle
Titans TE Chig Okonkwo aggravated an abdominal injury that had him on the injury report in the first quarter.
Up next
Houston play either the Chargers or Steelers trying to win a second straight wild-card game.
Tennessee goes into the offseason losers of six straight and eight of nine under Callahan. Now controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk has to decide what changes might be needed for a franchise building a $2.2 billion enclosed stadium next door set to open in 2027.
*Don't miss the video below as the crew from Texans on Tap reacts live to the win on YouTube.
How Houston Rockets hold the cards for a franchise-changing summer
May 8, 2025, 5:45 pm
It’s been a slog on the treadmill of mediocrity for the Astros thus far in 2025. Their 18-18 record heading into a weekend series at Daikin Park vs. the Reds is appropriate. Plenty of good teams will have similar stretches this season. The Astros have to prove that this year’s edition is a good team. Plenty of time for that remains. Reminder that the breakout 2017 Astros had a 74-game stretch over which they went 37-37. 162 games allow for a lot of ebb and flow. Of course, the 2025 Astros’ roster is not close in quality to that of the 2017 squad. The point isn’t that this team could be a 101-game winner but that the 88 victories good enough for a playoff spot last year are still quite plausible this year.
The Rockets achieved mediocrity last season after three seasons as a laughingstock. This season they made the leap to good. While curling up and succumbing to Golden State in the decisive game seven of their first-round playoff series was a disappointment, the Rockets are in excellent position moving forward. Where they go from here should be quite interesting,
OF COURSE the Rockets are going to explore trading Jalen Green. He is obviously their most physically gifted player, but his consistent inconsistency is exasperating. Green’s series against the Warriors was basically an embarrassment with the exception of his 38-point game two outburst. The other six games, a meager nine-point-two points per game. That Green is still just 23 years old means it is not near obligatory they move on from him as Green starts a three-year 105 million dollar contract extension. However, the state of his game and comparison to a few specific players cast enough doubt about Green’s ceiling that declaring him “untouchable” would be ridiculous. During the Golden State series, an NBA play-by-play guy who I think is very good overall once referred to Green as the “Rockets’ superstar.” Anyone, including Green himself, who calls him a superstar either misspoke, was caught up in a moment, or is clueless.
Jalen Green just finished his fourth NBA season. Fairness requires noting that his first two seasons were compromised by being on atrocious Rockets’ squads. That said, Green was on 41-41 and 52-30 teams the past two seasons. In neither of him did he shoot a league average percentage either overall or from behind the three-point line. He did approach the three-point league average of 36 percentage made with his 35.4. That Green is an 80 percent career free throw shooter gives hope the three-point shooting can further develop. Better shot selection sure would help.
Green was the second overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, one year removed from high school. The player taken ahead of him was Cade Cunningham who also played just one year out of high school before going NBA. Cunningham joined a joke Detroit Pistons team. Cunningham is a much better player than Green at this point.
Other shooting guards who played one year after high school then jumped to the NBA, who were markedly ahead of Green after four NBA seasons include Anthony Edwards (first pick in his draft class), and Shae Gilgeous-Alexander (11th), and Devin Booker (13th). In comparison to each Green is a disappointment, though certainly not a bust.
What is head coach Ime Udoka’s bottom-line belief in Green fulfilling his potential? My guess is that cup is not overflowing. The Rockets’ half-court offense simply is not of championship caliber. Can it evolve there with Green, or is he better used as a piece in a trade offer with other players plus draft picks for a Booker or Kevin Duran? The Phoenix Suns are a near assets-less mess of a franchise in dire need of a reset. Durant will be 37 years old when next season starts, but is still a tremendous offensive player who would be a gargantuan half-court offense upgrade for the Rockets. The Rockets have so much draft capital that offering two or three first round picks plus Green, Cam Whitmore, and another player or two to make the salary cap math work would A: not empty out the Rockets’ flexibility going forward and B: have to get the Suns’ attention. If I’m Udoka and General Manager Rafael Stone, I’m making the call.
Courtesy of the Suns, the Rockets hold what is currently the ninth pick in the NBA Draft. The draft lottery is Monday night. The Rockets’ have a three-point-eight percent chance of winning it and the right to make Duke freshman superstar (and Final Four loser to UH) Cooper Flagg the number one pick. There is a 13.5 percent chance the Rockets move up to pick two, three, or four. Otherwise, it’s ninth, or lower if another team or teams vault up the lottery board.
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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