Tennessee Titans start strong, crumple in second half as Houston Texans win in overtime

The Tennessee Titans lost on the literal last second.

The Titans fell 19-16 to the Houston Texans in overtime Sunday when kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn hit a 54-yard field goal as time expired. Tennessee falls to 5-9 after leading for most of the game; it was its second consecutive overtime home loss.

The Texans (8-6) tied the score with a 10-play, 79-yard drive midway through the fourth quarter, capped by a touchdown pass from Case Keenum to Noah Brown with 3:03 left in the quarter. Cornerback Roger McCreary almost ended the drive with an interception deep in the red zone, but tight end Dalton Schultz muscled the ball out of McCreary's hands to keep the drive alive.

Neither team could separate itself in the next four possessions, forcing overtime.

The Titans won the coin toss to start overtime but couldn't get the ball across midfield. The Texans took over and went backward on three straight plays but Tennessee didn't take over with great field possession after the punt from inside the Texans' end zone because of a special teams hold.

Titans quarterback Will Levis was injured while being sacked on their next possession, and they had to punt. The Texans advanced 41 yards on their first play after the punt, putting them in striking distance for the winning field goal.

What about the first four quarters?

Few running backs have dominated an opponent the way Derrick Henry has bruised the Texans in his career. But that wasn't the case Sunday. He rushed for only 9 yards on 16 carries, marking the first time he was held to less than 1 yard per carry (0.6) since the first game of his career. Before Sunday, Henry had rushed for more than 1,000 yards in just his past five games against the Texans.

Levis fared a little better, throwing for 199 yards on an efficient 17-for-25 day and rushing for a touchdown, but he threw a bad interception and struggled to stay in rhythm after the first quarter. He threw for 96 of his yards on the Titans' first two possessions; after that, the offense didn't sustain another drive longer than 26 yards in regulation. Levis was sacked seven times and hit five more. The rookie had to be helped off the field in overtime with what appeared to be a left leg injury.

Despite the absence of starting quarterback C.J. Stroud, Houston was able to slice through the Titans' defense with its rushing attack. Running back Devin Singletary eclipsed 100 yards for the third time this season as Tennessee's depleted rush defense couldn't clog holes in the middle.

Red zone defense looms large again

No NFL team has done a better job of keeping opponents out of the end zone once they've reached it than the Titans this season. That fact paid major dividends in Monday's win against the Miami Dolphins, and was hugely important again six days later against Houston.

The Texans' offense got things going late in the second quarter with an up-the-middle rushing attack, but stalled inside the 10-yard line and settled for a field goal right before halftime. The same trends continued on the Texans' first drive after the half, but the Titans' defense again tightened up and stood firm, holding Houston to another field goal.

Elijah Molden makes a difference

Turnovers haven't exactly come easy for the Titans' defense this season. Especially not game-changing ones that flip the field, let alone the score. Third-year safety Elijah Molden made one of those very plays in the second quarter when he was gifted an interception that Keenum threw right at him and returned it 44 yards, evading would-be tacklers in the process, for the Titans' first interception for a touchdown this season.

This wasn't Molden's only big moment. Earlier in the game, he broke up a third-down pass to force a punt, making this his first game with multiple passes defended since Oct. 31, 2021.

Is Burks back?

Going into Sunday, second-year receiver Treylon Burks had struggled through a disappointing season. The former first-round pick missed six games and had only 123 yards in the seven he played. In two games since returning from his most recent injury, he had caught just one pass for one yard.

Sunday was a different story. The Titans got Burks involved early, finding him on a crossing route for a 37-yard gain on their first possession and again for a 20-yard gain on the next possession. He finished with three catches for 62 yards and rushed once for two yards.

What's next?

The Titans stay home for another game at Nissan Stadium in an AFC-NFC showdown against the Seattle Seahawks. Kickoff is scheduled for noon Sunday and the game will be televised on CBS.

Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nicksuss.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Titans' offense stalls, defense can't stop Texans in OT loss