Texans 22, Bills 19
Texans vs Bills Wildcard Playoff: Good, bad & ugly
Jan 4, 2020, 7:16 pm
Texans 22, Bills 19
Another home playoff game in the Bill O'Brien era, another heartache. At least this time it ended in a victory. Here are my observations of the Texans' overtime win:
-J.J. Watt came up with a sack that helped force a field goal after the Texans turned the ball over in their own territory. On the 3rd&8 play, he beat the Bills' rookie right tackle with one move and Josh Allen had nowhere to go. Good to see him back less than three months away from tearing his pectoral muscle. This sack was a clear turning point in the game, and it was made that much sweeter when...
-...the effort of Deshaun Watson, DeAndre Hopkins, Duke Johnson, and Carlos Hyde to take the offense down and score. Watson put the team on his back with a touchdown run and two-point conversion to make it 16-8. From that point forward, Watson put the team on his back, literally and figuratively. His wizardry to evade defenders often gets him in trouble, or it sets up a game-winning field goal in overtime.
-Gareon Conley made two touchdown-saving plays in the 1st half. One was an athletic breakup, the other was a heads up arm grab to ensure Duke Williams dropped the ball. Both were on key 3rd downs and both resulted in the Bills settling for field goals. The halftime score could've been 21-0 instead of 13-0 if it weren't for Conley.
*Honorable Mention goes to Whitney Mercilus. He's been M.I.A. for a large stretch of the season. When he recently signed an extension, it was deemed laughable. However, he earned a good portion of that money today with his performance, especially in the clutch.
-The Texans won the coin toss and deferred to the 2nd half. The defense couldn't hold the Bills juggernaut offense on the opening possession of the game and allowed them to go 75 yards in six plays for a touchdown. The chunk play on the drive: a Josh Allen 42-yard run that flipped field position. The scoring play: a Josh Allen touchdown catch. Not the way you want to start a game. But hey, at least the opening kickoff wasn't returned for a touchdown. Progress?
-At one point early in the 2nd half, Josh Allen had three times as many total yards as Deshaun Watson. To make matters worse, Watson was also sacked seven times, a few of which were his fault. Through the first 38-plus minutes of play, Watson was being outplayed by Allen and it showed on the scoreboard.
-Explosive plays are considered anything over 20 yards. The Texans were considered the more explosive offense, while the Bills were thought to be a more plodding offensive unit. That was debunked when I looked up and saw the Bills outdid the Texans in explosive plays five to three.
-Whether you want to blame the league and the refs for the sham of pass interference reviews, or Bill O'Brien for challenging it, the Texans' first drive came to a halt at the Bills' 37 yard line on 3rd&8 when Watson had Hopkins but the pass fell incomplete after some contact. It wasn't very clear, so O'Brien shouldn't have challenged it. It also shows that the refs aren't going to overturn very many of these calls. Waste of a challenge.
-Down 13-0 early in the 2nd half, the defense finally came up with a stop to force a punt. Hopkins caught his first pass of the game after the Texans came up with a huge stop, but fumbled trying to get an extra yard or two. Hopkins routinely carries the ball with one hand, but this time it cost him and his team.
-This was one of the worst tackling performances I've seen in the playoffs. While there weren't any "Beast-quake" plays made because of it, there were far too many extra yards and first downs had simply because the defense failed tackle soundly. Vernon Hargreaves' miss on Dawson Knox
The Texans managed to pull off an improbable win at home. Improbable because they put themselves behind early by not executing and committing awful mistakes. Good thing Allen was the Texans' co-MVP in this game by committing inexcusable errors. They were saved by HUGE plays from the defense and the offense finally stepping up. While they almost gave it away at the end by missing on 4th&1, they managed to hang on and get the win. They even allowed the Bills back in it with a field goal to send it to overtime. Remember when Dabo Swinney called Watson the "Michael Jordan" of football? This game made that proclamation appear like a prophecy. Let's see how they look next week after this thriller. Coming from 16 down in this fashion to win makes this team believe they can beat anyone.
Houston (9-7) at Tennessee (3-13)
Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, CBS
BetMGM NFL Odds: Titans by 1.
Against the spread: Texans 6-8-2; Titans 2-14.
Series record: Tennessee leads 24-21.
Last meeting: Titans beat the Texans 32-27 on Nov. 24.
Last week: Texans lost to the Ravens 31-2; Titans lost to the Jaguars 20-13.
Texans offense: overall (21), rush (21), pass (19), scoring (18)
Texans defense: overall (7), rush (12), pass (6), scoring (16)
Titans offense: overall (28), rush (15), pass (28), scoring (T-25)
Titans defense: overall (2), rush (22), pass (6), scoring (30)
Turnover differential: Texans plus-10; Titans minus-16
QB C.J. Stroud needs 323 yards passing to join Justin Herbert and Jameis Winston as the only players in NFL history to have at least 4,000 yards passing in each of their first two seasons. He has thrown for at least 240 yards in three straight road games. Stroud had 247 yards passing and two touchdowns in his previous meeting against Tennessee and hasn’t thrown an interception in nine of his 10 career starts against division opponents.
QB Will Levis. Benched after his fourth turnover of the game against Cincinnati on Dec. 15, the second-year quarterback stayed there for the next two games. Now he’s splitting work with Mason Rudolph in a final chance to show how much he’s learned before the offseason. Levis had no interceptions in the two games he started before his four-turnover game against Cincinnati that got him benched.
The Titans against their draft status. Losing clinches the No. 2 pick overall in the April draft to match the slot where they took QB Marcus Mariota in 2015. Lose and get help with New England beating Buffalo's backups? Tennessee then has the No. 1 overall pick for the first time since 2016. A new GM traded that pick two weeks before the draft for a haul that netted a trio of All-Pros led by Derrick Henry.
Texans: CB Kamari Lassiter got in a limited practice on Thursday. … C/G Juice Scruggs returned to practice in a limited capacity and could return after missing four games with a foot injury. … CB Jeff Okudah was limited in practice Wednesday, but missed practice on Thursday after sustaining a concussion against the Ravens.
Titans: RB Tony Pollard (ankle) missed last week's game with an illness. He is close to some contract incentives and was limited Wednesday in a walk-through. RB Tyjae Spears likely will have a difficult time clearing the concussion protocol after being knocked out of last week's game. ... K Nick Folk (abdomen) has missed two straight games. ... RG Dillon Radunz (shoulder) might be back after missing two games.
The Texans have won three of the past four. But the Titans have won six of the past 10. Houston managed to sweep the 2023 season series between the division rivals, and eight of the past nine have been decided by nine or fewer points.
The Texans have clinched the AFC South for a second straight season. ... RB Joe Mixon has 883 yards of offense and 10 touchdowns in seven road games this season. He needs 7 yards rushing for his fifth career 1,000-yard rushing season. … WR Nico Collins had 92 yards receiving and a TD in the previous game against Tennessee. He needs 32 yards receiving to reach 1,000 yards for a second straight season. … WR John Metchie had five receptions for 48 yards last week. … TE Dalton Schultz has had a TD reception in two straight road games. … LB Azeez Al-Shaair returns after a three-game suspension for his violent hit to Trevor Lawrence's head that gave the Jacksonville quarterback a concussion. … DE Danielle Hunter had a career-high five tackles for loss and three sacks in the previous game against the Titans. He ranks third in the NFL with 12 sacks for his fifth career season with at least 12 sacks. … DE Will Anderson had two tackles for loss last week. He is tied for eighth in the NFL with 11 sacks this season. … CB Derek Stingley has an interception in two of his past three road games. He ranks second in the NFL with a career-high 18 passes defended this season. … Rookie CB Kamari Lassiter tackled Derrick Henry in the end zone for a safety for Houston's only points last week. ... This game wraps up the Titans' 65th season in franchise history and their 26th at Nissan Stadium. This also will be the franchise's 1,000th game in the regular season. ... The Titans have a chance to finish in the top five in the league in passing defense for the first time since 2000 when they led the NFL. They also rank third in total defense. The Titans last finished in the top five in total defense for a season in 2007 when they ranked fifth. ... S Amani Hooker already has a career-high five interceptions. With one more, he would have the Titans' first six-interception season since 2017 when Kevin Byard had eight. ... LT JC Latham can start Sunday and become the first rookie offensive lineman to start every game his first season since Jack Conklin in 2016. He would become the fourth since the team took the Titans' nickname for the 1999 season, joining Conklin, Chance Warmack (2013) and Michael Roos (2005). ... WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine has nine TD catches, tied for ninth most in the NFL despite not catching a pass through the first month of the season. ... Chig Okonkwo has 22 catches in the past three games combined, tying Delanie Walker's three-game stretch in 2015 for the most catches by a tight end for the franchise since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970.
WR Calvin Ridley leads the Titans with 61 catches for 941 yards. He's 59 yards from a second straight 1,000-yard receiving season and the third of his career.