TEAM NOTES
• With their 28-25 victory, the Titans finished the season with a 12-5 record to clinch the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs, providing homefield advantage and a first-round bye. It is their first time since 2008 with the conference's top seed.
• The Titans enter the playoffs on a three-game winning streak and with wins in four of their last five games.
• The Titans earned 12 wins in the regular season for the first time since going 13-3 in 2008.
• The win over the AFC South rival Texans gave the Titans a 5-1 divisional record for the second consecutive season.
• Mike Vrabel improved his career record as head coach to 43-26, including playoffs. In doing so, he tied Jack Pardee for the most total wins by a head coach in his first four seasons with the organization. In Pardee's first four seasons as head coach from 1990 through 1993, the Oilers were 43-26, including playoffs. Of all Titans/Oilers head coaches with at least four seasons with the franchise, Vrabel's .623 career winning percentage ranks the highest.
• The Titans concluded their sixth consecutive regular season with a winning record. They have been above the .500 mark in each season since Jon Robinson was hired as general manager in 2016. The only other team with at least six consecutive winning records at the conclusion of the 2021 regular season is the Kansas City Chiefs (nine).
• There were six players for the Titans who started every game during the 2021 regular season: safety Kevin Byard, center Ben Jones, outside linebacker Harold Landry III, right tackle David Quessenberry, defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons and quarterback Ryan Tannehill. Four additional players appeared in every contest but recorded fewer than 17 starts: defensive lineman Denico Autry, long snapper Morgan Cox, linebacker Nick Dzubnar and safety Matthias Farley.
• The Titans' 2021 major statistical leaders included kicker Randy Bullock (120 points), quarterback Ryan Tannehill (3,734 passing yards), running back Derrick Henry (937 rushing yards), wide receiver A.J. Brown (63 receptions and 869 receiving yards), safety Kevin Byard (five interceptions and 88 tackles), outside linebacker Harold Landry III (12 sacks), punter Brett Kern (44.8-yard average on 47 punts) and Chester Rogers (293 punt return yards and 282 kickoff return yards).
• At Houston, three players appeared in a game for the Titans for the first time: running back Jordan Wilkins, defensive end Da'Shawn Hand and tight end Ryan Izzo. They became the 89th, 90th and 91st players to see action for the team in 2021. Entering the week, the Titans' 88 players with at least one game played already established the NFL record for a non-strike season.
• The Titans scored 28 points for the seventh time in 2021. They went 7-0 in those contests.
• In the first half, the Titans built a 21-0 lead and had a statistical advantage in first downs (17 to four), total net yards (268 to 67), rushing yards (70 to nine), passing yards (198 to 58) and time of possession (18:17 to 11:43).
• For the 13th time in 17 games in 2021, the Titans won the time-of-possession battle. Their time of possession was 33:34, compared to 26:26 by the Texans. The Titans finished the season with an average time of possession of 32:40.
TEAM NOTES – OFFENSE
• The Titans offense converted eight third downs on 13 attempts. The unit's 61.5 percent rate was the second-best of the season behind the 66.7 percent rate (8-12) against Kansas City on Oct. 24.
• The offense totaled 405 yards at Houston, including 124 rushing yards and 281 net passing yards. The 405 yards ranked fourth for the offense in 2021.
• The Titans scored touchdowns on all four possessions in the red zone and on all three of their goal-to-go possessions.
• In the second quarter, the Titans drove 94 yards on 11 plays to score their first touchdown of the game. It was their second-longest scoring drive of the season in yardage.
• For the second consecutive week, the Titans allowed only one sack.
TEAM NOTES – DEFENSE
• The Titans defense shut out the Texans in the first half. It was the unit's fourth half in a nine-half span in which it shut out the opponent.
• The Texans were limited to nine rushing yards in the first half, marking the second time in 2021 that the Titans defense held the opponent under 10 yards rushing in the first half (eight against Jacksonville on Dec. 12).
• The defense limited the Texans to 64 rushing yards on 21 attempts (3.0 avg.) in the contest. The Titans allowed only one individual 100-yard rusher in 2021 and none after Jacksonville's James Robinson accomplished the feat on Oct. 10.
WR A.J. BROWN
• Caught four passes for 68 yards and a touchdown.
• In the second quarter, he caught a 24-yard pass from Ryan Tannehill and then scored on a 14-yard reception two plays later. He increased his 2021 total to five touchdown receptions and improved his career total to 24 touchdown catches.
• In 2021, he led the team with 63 receptions, 869 receiving yards and five touchdown catches.
K RANDY BULLOCK
• Made all four extra points and missed his only field goal attempt. He finished the season with 120 points, which was the second-highest total of his career (130 in 2014 with the Texans).
S KEVIN BYARD
• Posted five tackles.
• Led the Titans defense in 2021 with five interceptions and 88 tackles.
ILB ZACH CUNNINGHAM
• Started against his former team and led the team with nine tackles. His two tackles for loss tied for the team lead. He added a special teams tackle on punt coverage.
• Registered his third game to either lead the defense or tie for the team lead in tackles.
TE ANTHONY FIRKSER
• Registered four receptions for a season-high 56 yards, including a touchdown. He tied for second on the team in receptions.
• Registered his second touchdown reception of the season and his second consecutive game with a touchdown catch. He hauled in a five-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Tannehill in the second quarter. His two touchdown receptions on the season set a career high and improved his career total to five touchdown receptions.
RB D'ONTA FOREMAN
• Led the team with 69 yards on 21 rushing attempts.
• Added a 15-yard reception to Houston's one-yard line to help set up a touchdown in the second quarter.
• Finished the season ranked second on the team with a career-high 566 rushing yards on 133 attempts (4.3 avg.).
RB DONTRELL HILLIARD
• Finished second on the team with 57 rushing yards on nine attempts.
• Helped seal the victory with an 11-yard run inside the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter.
• Concluded the season ranked third on the team with a career-high 350 rushing yards on 56 attempts, including a pair of touchdowns.
WR JULIO JONES
• Registered 58 yards and a touchdown on a team-high five receptions.
• Caught a three-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Tannehill in the fourth quarter. It was his first touchdown as a member of the Titans, giving him 61 career touchdown catches.
• Finished the season with 31 receptions for 434 yards and a touchdown.
P BRETT KERN
• Averaged 49.3 yards (43.3 net) on four punts with one punt inside the 20.
OLB HAROLD LANDRY III
• Produced three tackles.
• Concluded the 2021 regular season with a team-high and career-high 12 sacks. In the franchise's "Titans era" (1999–present), his 12 sacks tied for the fourth-highest single-season total and were the most since Jason Babin produced 12.5 sacks in 2010.
CB ELIJAH MOLDEN
• Tied for second on the team with six tackles, including a tackle for loss.
DT KYLE PEKO
• Registered his second career sack and his second consecutive game with a sack, dropping Davis Mills for a three-yard loss in the first quarter.
• Totaled two tackles, each of them a tackle for loss to tie for the team lead.
DT JEFFERY SIMMONS
• Dropped Davis Mills for a nine-yard sack in the third quarter. He improved his season total to a career-high 8.5 sacks (13.5 career).
• Totaled two tackles.
QB RYAN TANNEHILL
• Completed 23 of 32 passes for 287 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. His 138.9 passer rating was the fifth-best of his career in a game with the qualifying minimum of 20 attempts.
• His four touchdown passes tied his career high. It was the fifth such occasion and the first since tossing four touchdown passes against Houston on Oct. 18, 2020.
• In the first half, he completed 18 of 25 passes for 198 yards and three touchdowns for a passer rating of 134.7.
• Completed three touchdown passes in second quarter, marking the second game in his career with three touchdown passes in a single quarter. His second-quarter scoring tosses included a five-yard touchdown to Anthony Firkser, a 14-yarder to A.J. Brown and a four-yarder to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine. The only other occasion in which he accomplished the feat was when he had three touchdown passes in the first quarter against Houston on Oct. 25, 2015.
• Added a three-yard touchdown pass to Julio Jones in the fourth quarter, which proved to be the difference in the 28-25 win.
• Escaped pressure to complete a 36-yard pass to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and convert a third down in the fourth quarter. He also had a 29-yard pass to Westbrook-Ikhine in the first quarter and a 24-yard pass to A.J. Brown in the second quarter.
• Extended his streak to a career-best 15 consecutive games with at least one passing or rushing touchdown.
• Became the only quarterback other than Warren Moon (1989–1991) to record multiple seasons with at least 3,500 passing yards with the franchise. He finished the season with 3,734 yards, 21 touchdowns and 14 interceptions, completing 357 of his 531 passes (89.6 passer rating). His passing yardage total ranked fourth in franchise history.
• His 531 passing attempts in 2021 ranked third in franchise history, as did his 357 completions and his 67.2 completion percentage.
• Improved his starting record in the regular season and playoffs to 32-15 in three seasons with the Titans, leading the club to the playoffs each season. He is the franchise's first starting quarterback since Warren Moon (1987 to 1993) to direct his team to the playoffs in at least three consecutive seasons.
WR NICK WESTBROOK-IKHINE
• Led the offense with 78 receiving yards on four catches, including a touchdown. His yardage made up the second-best total of his career, and his reception total tied for the second-best number of his career.
• Caught a four-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Tannehill in the second quarter. It was his fourth touchdown catch of the season (fourth career).
• Produced a 29-yard reception in the first quarter to convert a third down, and in the fourth quarter, he hauled in a 36-yard pass to convert a third down. It was the second-longest catch of his career.
• Finished second on the team in 2021 in receptions (38), receiving yards (476) and touchdown catches (four), establishing career highs in each category.
