The Tennessee Titans host the Houston Texans this Sunday at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, at 12:00 p.m. CDT.
It’s the second meeting of the season between the division rivals, and in the first meeting, the Texans shut out the Titans 26-0. It was one of the losses that led to the firing of Brian Callahan earlier this season, and it’s a game the Titans want revenge for.
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Since their last meeting, the Titans are 1-4 while the Texans are 3-2. We went behind enemy lines with our counterparts at Texans Wire to gain some insight into what is going right and what is going wrong with the Texans ahead of this Week 11 matchup.
The Texans have several players in concussion protocol. How likely is it we see any of them this week, or will the Texans use caution against the 1-8 Titans?
C.J. Stroud is out for this game and was ruled pretty early in the week as inactive. The same goes for defensive back Jalen Pitre, who missed last week’s matchup against the Jaguars. Tytus Howard should be good to go after clearing the protocol on Wednesday, but the question is, where does he play? Now that Trent Brown is at least near full health, it would make sense for him to potentially see the field, but the Texans might like their offensive line with Brown as a swing tackle.
I don’t think the Texans have much to worry about, even with Stroud sidelined.
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The Titans currently lead the all-time series 23-24, and the Texans have a chance to tie that up this week with a win. Is this something they’re talking about?
Not really. That doesn’t mean that Houston wouldn’t love to beat up on the team that departed the Astrodome in favor of the other status with a ‘UT’ as its state college, but its plans are much grander. With a win, the Texans would return to .500 for the first time since Week 1. Depending on what happens between Denver and Kansas City, the Texans would be in the driver’s seat for the No. 7 seed of the AFC playoff rankings. That’s a more important storyline for Texans fans entering a trip to Nashville.
In C.J. Stroud’s absence, Davis Mills and the Texans scored 26 unanswered points in the fourth quarter against the Jags. What’s the likelihood that we see that kind of performance from him this week, if he plays?
Hopefully, it’s not at that exact level since it was 29-10 with 12 minutes left, and Mills had completed under 60 percent of his passes for 166 yards. I’d say it all depends on the status of Tennessee’s secondary. Mills really found a groove last week on short to intermediate passes, especially to Dalton Schultz and Nico Collins. Will Tennessee have two options that can slow down the passing game on third-down conversions against the slot and across the middle of the field? If not, the Titans could be in trouble.
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The Texans have the fourth-ranked pass defense and the second-ranked run defense. Matt Burke is in his third season as defensive coordinator; what is he doing to make the defense so effective?
For starters, this is the first season he’s actually been calling plays, so I think he’s watched what’s worked for the Texans’ defense and what’s been a hindrance under DeMeco Ryans to put the Texans in a better position to strike. The second thing is the team’s depth. Houston has lived off having quality pieces sitting on the bench, waiting for their turn to see 12-16 snaps in a game. They have one of the deepest defensive back rooms and defensive lines in the league. It also helps having two top 10 defensive ends who can rotate coming off the field without losing that pressure rate.
On the flip side, Nick Caley is in his first season as offensive coordinator, and the offense is struggling. What needs to change for the offense to be successful?
It’s a few things. First, the offensive line is being held together with experience and the prayer that C.J. Stroud will get the ball out in time. Stroud’s inability to let go of the ball and hit reset has really hurt Houston’s ability to move the ball downfield and at the short game, too. I think you also have to look at the receiving game. There have been several moments when Stroud has connected with Dalton Schultz or Xavier Hutchinson, but it sometimes feels as if he’s trying to force-feed Nico Collins and Christian Kirk. Rookie Jaylin Noel has been near impossible to guard, but he’s only seen about 34 percent of snaps this season, thus taking away another weapon who’s dependable in a pinch.
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What needs to change is probably the personnel look. The Texans love running 12-personnel (two tight end sets), but they don’t have the talent to properly execute it. Even if second-year tight end Cade Stover returns, he’s struggled at times in run blocking. Houston probably can survive this season going with a more up-tempo, quick-release approach, but even then, does Stroud have a good enough offensive line to keep him upright whenever they run a play-action waiting to let it fly? I think not.
This article originally appeared on Titans Wire: Tennessee Titans vs. Houston Texans: Behind enemy lines Week 11