The Houston Texans will be without Johnathan Greenard, a huge loss for Sunday

The Houston Texans are besieged with injuries right now. The franchise was once riding high, marching to the playoffs with confidence and stellar wins. Now, the team is just trying to finish the season where they never thought they would end up being; the playoffs.

To get there, they were going to need as many of their best players healthy as possible, a task that seems largely impossible. The Texans are short-staffed, much like a big box score after the holidays, but instead of an airborne illness that takes out so many hard-working retail employees, the Texans are dealing with one injury after another.

And now the injury bug that won't quit has claimed Jonathan Greenard, the Texans defensive end and sack leader for the season. Not having him is a huge blow that normally would be offset with the help of the whole team around him but is made all the worse by the fact that Will Anderson Jr. remains on the injured list ahead of the matchup as well.

The Texans did not need to lose both of their top defensive ends for a pivotal matchup against the Titans, but they did and now they have to figure out what to do with the possibility of being without both men.

It's not going to be easy and will put a lot more pressure on freshly acquired Derek Barnett. He's been fantastic for the Texans but has he been so good that he can carry the water for both Anderson and Greenard? It's unlikely as that's a lot for any one man to handle. Let alone one man trying to replace a Pro Bowler and a top candidate for Defensive Rookie of the Year.

The only saving grace is that the Titans' offensive line isn't the best right now and the Texans may be able to survive not having Greenard this week. That said, it does put more pressure on Anderson to return, which isn't what we want at all.