TITANS 20, TEXANS 17
Special team blunders and rusty offense lead to another Texans loss
Sep 16, 2018, 3:32 pm
The Texans stuck with their game plan, shook off more early season rust, but still fell to the Titans 20-17 on the road. Play wasn’t good early, and the Titans looked like they were going walk all over their divisional opponent. But once again, a steady defensive effort kept the game manageable, and it came down to a final drive for Houston that ended with Deshaun Watson completing a meaningless pass over the middle after wasting precious seconds scrambling while time ran out.
The Texans defense came out firing hard against a Derrick Henry led rushing attack. The secondary got a new look because starting cornerback Kevin Johnson was added to injured reserve this past week. The change put Kareem Jackson back at cornerback and gave rookie Justin Reid his first career start at safety. J.J. Watt was getting into the backfield early and often and an injury to Christian Covington earned another rookie, Duke Ejiofor, his first start and his first career sack.
The first quarter was forgettable for Houston. The offense looked like it was repeating the same effort it gave in last week’s loss to New England. Missed passes and missed field goals left a lot of worry about how they could get back in the game after the Titans jumped out to an early 14-0 lead after just two possessions. The first of those scores coming on a 66-yard fake punt throw from safety Kevin Byard to fellow defensive back Dane Cruikshank. They would get another one on the following drive after missed tackles in the secondary led to an 18-yard touchdown by wide receiver Taywan Taylor.
Houston settled down and went to work behind another solid effort from the running game. Lamar Miller kept the ball moving with 14 carries for 68 yards, Watson added 44 yards, while Alfred Blue turned in another 36 yards of his own. Houston aired it out plenty while a close game was playing out. Watson finished with 310 yards on 22 of 32 passing with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception.
After missing last week with injury, Will Fuller was the leader in receptions. He hauled in 8 passes for 113 yards and 1 touchdown. DeAndre Hopkins had a solid game too. He caught 6 balls for 110 yards and a touchdown of his own.
Hopkins caught the first Texans score with just under a minute to play in the first half to cut the score to 14-7. Houston kept momentum in their favor to start the second half and on consecutive drives to end the third quarter and start the fourth they took the lead consecutive scores. The first was a Ka’imi Fairbairn 34-yard field goal and the second was Fuller’s 39-yard diving touchdown over cornerback Malcom Butler.
The Titans leaned heavy on the running game while their starting quarterback Marcus Mariota was sidelined by an elbow injury. Tennessee ran the ball 34 times for 100 yards while they only threw it 22 times and were held to just 183 yards (quarterback Blaine Gabbert was held to just 117 yards). They spent most of the game living off their early success, trying hard to keep Houston from coming back in the game.
After the score became knotted at 17 in the fourth quarter the play slowed and became a grind it to victory effort. The defense allowed the Titans to march 62 yards in 5 minutes and 36 seconds on their final drive to take the lead on a 31-yard field goal.
The Houston Astros are looking to avoid an unexpected sweep Wednesday night as they wrap up their three-game set against the Cleveland Guardians at Daikin Park.
Winners of six of their last ten despite back-to-back losses, the Astros (55-37) turn to left-hander Brandon Walter (1-1, 4.15 ERA) to steady the ship and salvage the finale. Walter has been reliable in his recent outings, and he’ll face a Guardians lineup that has struggled to string together hits, batting just .204 over their last 10 games.
Cleveland (42-48) entered the series on a 10-game losing streak, but now has a chance to sweep the AL West leaders and take the season series. Slade Cecconi (3-4, 3.56 ERA) gets the start for the Guardians. The 26-year-old righty has kept his ERA under 4.00 this year and will look to neutralize a Houston offense that leads the American League in batting average at .260 and is hitting .295 over the last 10 games.
All eyes remain on Jose Altuve, who has driven in 16 runs and slugged four homers over his last 10 games. He’s been the heartbeat of the Houston offense, while Isaac Paredes continues to deliver steady power at the top of the lineup. The Astros have scored five or more runs in eight of their last ten games, but the bullpen faltered late in both of the first two games of this series.
Cleveland counters with the steady presence of Carlos Santana and the always-dangerous Jose Ramirez. Though Ramirez is just 6-for-38 in his last 10 games, he’s delivered key home runs in the series and remains the Guardians’ biggest threat.
With the season series now 3-2 in favor of Cleveland, Wednesday’s matchup carries added weight for the Astros as they look to regroup and avoid letting momentum slip further. First pitch is set for 8:10 p.m. ET.
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Astros -144, Guardians +121; over/under is 8 runs
Astros lineup for the finale
What stands out? First off, Jake Meyers returns to the lineup after missing a couple of games with a calf issue. With Meyers back in the two-spot, Cam Smith returns to hitting cleanup. Caratini is playing first base again and hitting fifth, followed by Yainer Diaz (C), Cooper Hummel (DH), Taylor Trammell (LF), and Mauricio Dubon (SS).
Image via: MLB.com/Screenshot.
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