NASHVILLE – The Titans face the Houston Texans on Sunday at Nissan Stadium.
Here's a quick look at the Texans:
Record: 1-4.
Last game: October 11, 2020: Texans 30, Jaguars 14.
Points for/against: 22.0/28.0 ppg.
NFL RANKINGS
Offense: 22nd overall, 359.2 ypg (30th rushing, 9th passing).
Defense: 22nd overall, 387.4 ypg (31st rushing, 8th passing).
TEAM LEADERS
Head coach: Romeo Crennel.
Offense:
QB: Deshaun Watson (109-of-163, 1,451 yards, 9 TDs, 5 INTs, 100.5 rating).
Top RB: David Johnson (68 carries, 293 yards, 2 TDs).
Top WR: Will Fuller (22 catches, 332 yards, 3 TD).
Top TE: Darren Fells (8 catches, 120 yards, 2 TDs).
Defense:
Sacks: LB Whitney Mercilus (3).
Leading tackler: LB Zach Cunningham (53).
Interceptions: None.
Take/Give: -5 (2/7).
Kicker: Ka'imi Fairbairn (9-of-10 FGs, 11-of-11 PATs).
Punter: Bryan Anger 46.4 (42.9).
Last meeting: December 29, 2019: Titans 35, Texans 14.
Of note:
-Texans offensive coordinator Tim Kelly is the brother of Titans right tackle Dennis Kelly. The two were raised in Chicago Heights, Illinois.
-Texans linebacker Zach Cunningham played at Vanderbilt University.
-Texans center/guard Zach Fulton played at the University of Tennessee.
-Texans coach Romeo Crennel played at Western Kentucky, where he later served as an assistant coach.
-Titans center Ben Jones, outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney, cornerback Johnathan Joseph and tight end MyCole Pruitt all previously played for the Texans.
Injury Report
WR Keke Coutee
DE J.J. Watt
TE Jordan Akins
LB Dylan Cole
RB Buddy Howell
LB Peter Kalambayi
OLB Jacob Martin
T Laremy Tunsil
Titans coach Mike Vrabel on the Texans:
(on balancing getting after Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson with containing him)
It's a huge task. He's a special talent, great person. We're going to have to try to do a better job than what we did last week with Josh (Allen), and every week is a new challenge. This week is obviously Houston coming off a great performance, big win. They played complementary. They got turnovers and they took advantage of them. They mixed tempos. They got big plays. They scored touchdowns in the red zone. It'll be difficult with Deshaun (Watson) like it is a lot of quarterbacks that are athletic and talented. It's just that he's the challenge this week.
(on if the Texans looked any different under interim head coach Romeo Crennel than they did under former general manager/head coach Bill O'Brien)
They're always going to have some gameplan plays in all three phases. They do a really nice job of that. Showing a few wrinkles defensively. Some complementary plays off of formations that they've shown earlier in the year. I wouldn't say that it's a drastic difference. They played well, they were beating Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh in the fourth quarter, they just weren't able to close it out. They've played well throughout the course of the year. I would say that the first thing I've learned is that records don't mean anything in this league at all, whatsoever. You'll have to play well and give yourself a chance to win. If you don't play well in this league, you're guaranteed to lose. Playing well doesn't ensure that you're going to win, it's just going to give you an opportunity to win.
