The Houston Texans can play spoiler one more time this year- but will they?
The 2021 season has been a nightmare for the Houston Texans, and the same can be said about the entire calendar year. However, with four wins under their belt, they welcome the top-seeded Tenessee Titans back to NRG Stadium in a game that holds more importance for the visitors.
If Tennessee wins, they can clinch the first seed and get the AFC’s only bye. However, if Houston pulls the upset, then if Kansas City Beats the Denver Broncos, the Chiefs would regain the top spot. Many eyes will be on Houston on Sunday for this very reason.
When Tenessee came down to Houston last year, in what was Deshaun Watson’s final game in a Houston Texans uniform, Tennessee needed to win to clinch the AFC South. This absolute barnburner of a game ended on a field goal that doinked in off the right upright and gave Tennessee the division.
This matchup is even more interesting because Houston beat Tenessee earlier this year, so how will these bold predictions play out? Here’s the first one:
Bold prediction number one: The Houston Texans have another pick party
In November, the Texans intercepted Ryan Tannehill four times in their upset win over Tennessee. Tennessee’s ground game isn’t the greatest and can easily be shut down. This will force Tannehill to throw the football.
Lovie Smith had Tannehill’s number earlier this year, and he will again on Sunday. More possessions for the offense will result in at least 10 points off of turnovers.
Kansas City, we see you and will do our best to get you the top seed back in your hands.
Houston Texans boldly go and take the ball away from Rex Burkhead
After last week’s pitiful attempt at trying to make the run game impactful against the 49ers, the Texans are going to be throwing the ball way more than they will run it. Burkhead will get a few carries, but it’s not like he’s going to have a day like he did against the Chargers two weeks ago.
If anything, Houston should throw the ball constantly against Tennessee’s secondary. The Titans have been hurting badly in passing yards allowed, as they’ve allowed the ninth-most in the league.
Surprisingly enough, they rank inside the top ten for sacks on the year, which somehow doesn’t make sense, but good for them. Another thing to note is that the only game in which the Titans did not record a sack against the Texans.
Maybe this is turning into a New England-playing-at-Miami sort of thing, but it also could be too early to say that. After this game, mills will have plenty of time to rest his arm in the offseason. So attack through the air, and don’t stop until you’ve broken the passing attempt record for a single game.
David Culley will out-Vrabel Mike Vrabel
Everyone knows that Titans head coach Mike Vrabel scours the NFL rulebook for loopholes, infamously known for the time he took two penalties to drain the clock on his former coach Bill Belichick in the 2019 AFC wildcard playoffs.
But if there’s anything Vrabel doesn’t like, it’s when other coaches try to emulate him and give him a taste of his own medicine. Now whatever loophole Culley is going to exploit, I cannot tell you. I personally haven’t read the NFL rulebook for this year, but it’s anyone’s guess.
The specific-punt loophole mentioned earlier got outlawed, so that’s not going to happen. So instead, maybe it will be like what the Arizona Cardinals did and, during the 3-second substitution period between plays, trotted out their kicker onto the field.
This made Dallas call a timeout early on in the third quarter, and because Mike McCarthy basically went to the Andy Reid School of Time Management, it didn’t allow McCarthy to challenge later in the game when they needed it, and as a result, they lost.
Expect Vrabel to be animated when and if this goes down on Sunday. It’s going to be a fun time.