TEXANS-TITANS PREVIEW
6 key points that could decide Houston Texans’ fate in Titans showdown
Nov 21, 2024, 2:19 pm
TEXANS-TITANS PREVIEW
Tennessee (2-8) at Houston (7-4)
Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, CBS
BetMGM NFL Odds: Texans by 8 1/2.
Against the spread: Tennessee 1-9; Houston 5-5-1.
Series record: Titans lead 23-21.
Last meeting: Texans beat Titans 26-3 on Dec. 31, 2023, in Houston.
Last week: Titans lost to Vikings 23-13; Texans beat Cowboys 34-10.
Titans offense: overall (25), rush (18), pass (29), scoring (28).
Titans defense: overall (2), rush (12), pass (1), scoring (26).
Texans offense: overall (14), rush (13), pass (14), scoring (14).
Texans defense: overall (4), rush (9), pass (6), scoring (11).
Turnover differential: Titans minus-11, Texans plus-8.
QB Will Levis. He doesn't have a win yet in his two games back since missing three straight with a sprained AC joint in his right, throwing shoulder. But the second-year quarterback has completed 64.8% of his passes (35 of 54) for 470 yards with three TD passes and only one interception. He's also been using his legs on designed runs as well as scrambling 12 times for 59 yards. He's also been sacked 12 times since his return. Last week, Levis tied the franchise record for the longest TD pass first set in 1962 with a 98-yard catch-and-run to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine. That also was the longest play in the NFL this season.
RB Joe Mixon had 153 yards of offense and a season-high three touchdowns Monday night. He ran for 109 yards and had 44 yards receiving. He has had at least 90 yards from scrimmage in six straight games, the longest active streak in the NFL. Mixon has had at least 100 yards rushing in six of his eight games this season and his nine rushing touchdowns in the past six games are a franchise record for a six-game span.
The Texans pass rush against a Tennessee offensive line that has allowed 33 sacks, 27 of those with Levis in the game. Right tackle has been a revolving door for the Titans with three different starters and five players who've rotated into that spot. Nicholas Petit-Frere got back into the starting lineup last week only to split the reps almost evenly with Isaiah Prince, who was flagged three times for illegal formation. The Texans have sacked Levis eight times in two games last season.
Titans: CB L'Jarius Sneed (quadriceps) will miss a fifth straight game. ... RB Tyjae Spears is in the concussion protocol. ... Houston DE Will Anderson is expected to return after missing two games with an ankle injury. ... DE Denico Autry missed practice this week with a knee injury. ... CB Kamari Lassiter should return after missing a game in the concussion protocol.
The Texans have won three straight in this rivalry between the team they replaced in Houston after the old Oilers relocated to Tennessee in 1997. They became the Titans in 1999, and they've been divisional foes since realignment in 2002. ... The Titans are 11-11 at NRG Stadium in Houston. ... Before the Texans' most recent win in this series, the previous four games all were decided by no more than a touchdown.
The Texans are among six AFC teams with at least seven wins or more and are chasing their second straight South title. ... This starts a two-game road swing for the Titans against teams with a combined record of 14-8. ... Westbrook-Ikhine leads the Titans with five TD catches all in the past six games. He had his third career 100-yard receiving performance last week with 117 yards. ... The Titans allowed 82 yards rushing last week with an average of 2.5 yards per carry. ... OLB Arden key has five sacks over the past five games. ... Titans K Nick Folk has made an NFL record streak of 84 field goals on attempts of less than 40 yards. ... Folk has 396 field goals and needs four more to tie for 14th-most all time. That also would make him the third active kicker with at least 400 field goals with Justin Tucker and Matt Prater. ... Texans QB C.J. Stroud threw for 257 yards and had 26 yards rushing against Dallas. Stroud is 6-1 in his past seven starts at home with a 90 or better passer rating in six of those games. Stroud has thrown 14 TD passes and rushed for another score with a 114.5 passer rating in eight starts in the AFC South. ... WR Nico Collins has had at least 50 yards receiving in each of his six games this season and his past 10 overall, including the playoffs. ... DE Danielle Hunter had three TFLs and two sacks last week. He has 7 1/2 sacks this season and is only the seventh NFL player since 1982 with at least six sacks in each of his first nine seasons. ... DE Denico Autry had a sack last week. Autry had 28 1/2 sacks over his past three seasons with the Titans. ... CB Derek Stingley is tied for third in the NFL with 12 passes defended this season.
Collins had four receptions for 54 yards last week in his return after missing five games with a hamstring injury. He would have had a lot more, but a 77-yard touchdown reception on the game's opening play was called back because of an ineligible man downfield. He leads the NFL by averaging 103.5 yards receiving a game.
Lamar Jackson broke the NFL career rushing record for quarterbacks in Baltimore's 31-2 victory over the Houston Texans on Wednesday, bolstering his case for MVP as the Ravens moved closer to the AFC North title.
*Don't miss the video below as the guys from Texans on Tap react to the game live on YouTube!
Jackson threw for 168 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 87 yards and another score. He pushed his career rushing total to 6,110 to move past Michael Vick, who had 6,109 in his 13-year career.
The Ravens (11-5) have already wrapped up their third straight playoff berth and need a victory over Cleveland next week to win the division over Pittsburgh. The Steelers dropped a third straight with a loss to Kansas City on Wednesday.
Jackson, the MVP last season and in 2019, put on a show rivaled only by the spectacular Super Bowl-caliber halftime performance by Beyoncé to give Baltimore its third straight win. And he needed just more than three quarters to do it, giving way to Josh Johnson with about 10 minutes left and the game long decided.
Jackson threw 9- and 1-yard TD passes and was not touched on a 48-yard scoring scamper that made it 24-2 in the third quarter.
Derrick Henry ran for 147 yards and set the Ravens season record with his 16th touchdown on a 2-yard run in the first quarter. He eclipsed Ray Rice (2011) and Mark Ingram (2019).
Baltimore dominated a Houston team reeling after losing dynamic receiver Tank Dell to a season-ending knee injury Saturday.
The AFC South champs struggled to finish drives and got their only points on a safety in the second quarter. C.J. Stroud threw for 185 yards, but was sacked five times and threw an interception and Joe Mixon managed just 26 yards rushing as the Texans (9-7) lost a second straight.
Rookie Kamari Lassiter dropped Henry for a 4-yard loss for the safety with about 10 minutes left in the first half to cut the lead to 10-2.
Dameon Pierce then returned the kickoff 45 yards to get the Texans to their 43. But they came away empty when Mixon was stopped on the 1 after grabbing a short pass on fourth-and-3.
Jackson then orchestrated a 99-yard drive to pad the lead. He scrambled to evade the rush and found Mark Andrews for a 67-yard gain to get the Ravens in the red zone with just more than two minutes left in the first half.
Isaiah Likely’s 9-yard TD reception two plays later made it 17-2. It was the first 17-2 halftime score in NFL history.
Kyle Hamilton intercepted Stroud's pass on the first drive of the second half. Two plays later, Jackson’s long TD run made it 24-2.
He set the rushing record on a 6-yard run on Baltimore’s next drive. Later in the drive, he scrambled to escape several defenders before finding Andrews for a 1-yard score to leave Baltimore up 31-2.
Ravens RB Rasheen Ali injured his hip in the third quarter and didn’t return. … Texans TE Cade Stover returned after missing two games following an emergency appendectomy.
The Ravens host the Browns, and the Texans visit the Titans next weekend. The game dates have yet to be determined.