After three consecutive weeks of prime time televised games, the Houston Texans normalize a little bit here over the next few weeks. Instead of having the national stage to themselves, they’ll be buried fairly far down the list of CBS Sunday noon telecasts this week, at home versus the Titans, and next week, on the road in Jacksonville.
The Texans’ next two opponents have combined for a total of four wins, a little over half the number of wins the Texans themselves have generated. Win these two games, and the Texans are a Week 18 win in Nashville away from sweeping the division for the first time in team history. Lose either of these two games, and they’ll head into their Week 14 bye week clearly a couple cuts below the big dogs of the AFC.
As for this Sunday, the Titans come into this game with a record of 2-8, and with questions swirling around their second year QB Will Levis, questions largely centered around just how good (or bad) he is at playing football. So with that in mind, let’s get to four things to watch for, beginning with Levis:
4. Let Levis Levis
Levis has started seven games this season, missing three due to injury, and he’s thrown at least one interception in all but one of those games. Early on this season, he was making mistakes that, on their own, could fill an entire ESPN SportsCenter “Not Top 10” segment of blunders. Levis doesn’t really appear to have made any advancement in his second season, and now, turnover machine that he is, he goes up against a defense that has forced 17 turnovers in their last six games. If you give Will Levis enough time, he will hand points over to the opposition, a very giving fellow during this, the holiday season.
3. Contain Jeffrey Simmons
Last week, against an inferior opponent, the Texans were able to shut down the one guy defensively who could wreck the game. That was Micah Parsons, who was held to one tackle and no sacks. This week, the threat comes from the interior of the defensive line, with All Pro defensive tackle Jeffrey Simmons. The weak point of this Texans offense (hell, of the whole team) has been the interior of the offensive line. They showed improvement last week, but this game will be a measuring stick for how they handle Simmons, plus rookie defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat. The Titans are holding opposing teams to just 3.7 yards per carry on the ground, so this might be the rare Joe Mixon non-100 yard game.
2. No big plays allowed
This Texans defense has been outstanding, and getting better as the season has gone on. Last week, against the Cowboys, the Cowboys’ only touchdown of the game was on a 60-plus yard catch and run from WR KaVontae Turpin. The Cowboys could not string together any drives where they had to march, say, eight to ten plays. Similarly, the Titans will be unable to put sustained drives together. Their only touchdown last week versus Minnesota was a 98 yard bomb from Levis to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine. Keep the chunk plays to a minimum, and there is no way the Titans eclipse the 13 point barrier.
1. Get right, CJ
On my radio show on Thursday, Texans general manager Nick Caserio confirmed that there is nothing physically wrong with C.J. Stroud, despite Stroud’s showing up on the injury report last week with a right hand injury. Stroud has made some throws of late that look like they’re being made by someone with a right hand injury, so I don’t know what to make of that. It’s undeniable that Stroud, while showing extreme toughness from the physical abuse, has regressed some in overall accuracy this season. I don’t think it’s a five alarm fire or anything, but Sunday, against a bad team at home, would be a great time to “get right” for the Texans’ young quarterback.
SPREAD: Texans -9
PREDICTION: Texans 27, Titans 13
SEASON RECORD: 7-4 SU, 2-9 ATS
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This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
