From Worst to Winners, Titans beat Texans 24-17
From Worst to Winners, Titans beat Texans 24-17
The Titans completed an extremely impressive turnaround when they beat the Texans on Sunday. They went from being the worst team a season ago, to finishing this season with a winning record.
“It’s a good start. We haven’t had a lot of success here….we want to bring our fans back. Hopefully they see there’s a good future and continue to fill the seats,” Mularkey said.
A few times during the post game presser, Mularkey used the phrase “it’s a start.” The coach is likely making a point for players to feel accomplished and happy, yet don’t settle for “just a winning record” but instead, they should long for the playoffs and a Super Bowl victory.
No touchdowns on special teams this year, but the Titans did finish with a touchdown on defense. DaQuan Jones scored a touchdown after Sean Spence stripped the Texans quarterback.
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Rishard Matthews was the only wide receiver to catch a pass for the Titans today. He finished with 9 catches for 114 yards and a touchdown. He also crossed 1000 yards for the season today.
The first half was ugly, for both teams’ offenses. The Texans only had 86 yards, with 14 of those rushing. The Titans only had 101 yards, with 40 yards rushing. Credit to each defense some, but neither offense looked in-sync.
Titans quarterback Tom Savage was replaced by Brock Osweiler after he suffered a concussion. The refs interfered and signaled the sideline of their concern. He looked ready to go back in. After a stint on the sideline, he did take the kneel down to close out the first half. Savage was not on the sideline as the second half began. Osweiler played the whole second half.
The third quarter had three scoring drives. The Texans scored a touchdown on a pass to CJ Fiedorowicz and a field goal by Nick Novak. The Titans scored on a Derrick Henry two-yard run. The Titans had the ball as the third quarter closed and began the fourth with a Ryan Succop field goal.
The Titans matched the defensive play of the top-ranked defense in the NFL in the first half, then matched the Texans when their offense was doing well. Jones’ fumble recovery proved to be too much for the Texans to overcome.
Antwaun Woods was promoted from the practice squad yesterday. He was active for the game and made an impression right away. The rookie clogged the middle nicely, then tackled Alfred Blue for a loss. He had another tackle later where he caught the running back from behind.
Derrick Morgan was “this close” to getting his tenth sack a few times.
Jurrell Casey had two sacks today and made his presence felt.
The Titans offensive line did not play well. They have always had issues with the Texans defense. For the first time in years, it wasn’t Whitney Mercilus and JJ Watt wreaking havoc, yet they still struggled. It was rather uncharacteristic of their stellar play this season. They allowed four sacks today.
By my count, Josh Kline has allowed 4.5 sacks in the last two games. I will research this and post further later. If this proves to be true, the Titans are not “set” on the offensive line and will have to reconsider the right guard position this offseason. Kline wouldn’t be cut, but they may now have to alter plans and add another guard. Careful to not overreact here, let’s wait to see stats and re-watch some of the games.
DeAndre Hopkins continued to look like a hall-of-fame player against the Titans. This was one week after Allen Robinson did well. Hopkins finished with 7 catches for 123 yards. This epitomizes their focus of improving the secondary this offseason.
DeMarco Murray finished a fantastic season and a fantastic turnaround for him. He didn’t do it in style, as he only had 21 yards rushing today. He was a huge key to the Titans success in 2016.
We’ll be recapping 2016 this week. Thanks for your support this season. I appreciate the emails and comments and….thank you very much.
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