By beating the Tennessee Titans in Nashville, the Houston Texans are in great shape to make the AFC Playoffs heading into the final two weeks of the season.
One of the better, yet inconsistent teams in the NFL defeated one of the hottest and most consistent teams in football on Sunday. The Houston Texans beat the division rival Tennessee Titans 24-21 in Nashville to take back control in the AFC South. Houston improves to 9-5, while Tennessee falls to 8-6. The Texans have to feel great about their chances of making the playoffs.
Houston knocked off the red-hot Titans at Nissan Stadium in Week 15 by not letting Derrick Henry beat the Texans into a pulp in the ground game. They held Henry to under 100 rushing yards on the ball game and did enough offensively to keep Ryan Tannehill and the Titans an arm’s length away throughout the ball game.
Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson completed 19-of-27 passes for 243 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, as well as having seven carries for 32 yards. He found wide receiver Kenny Stills twice on those touchdowns and got great games out of wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins and running back Carlos Hyde to topple the Titans in the Music City.
With a game advantage in the AFC South standings and currently the head-to-head tiebreaker, Houston has to fell tremendous about its chances of repeating as division champions. The Texans’ next two games are at the .500 Tampa Bay Buccaneers and at home against the Titans with the division on the line. Houston should be favored to win both games to get to 10-6 on the year.
Though the Titans are good enough to win their final two games, their path to an AFC South crown or an AFC Wild Card spot is a tad tougher. They may host the New Orleans Saints next week, but we should expect the Titans to be home underdogs in that one. Tennessee will also be underdogs when the Titans face the Texans at NRG Stadium in Week 17 with the division on the line.
Houston has shown this season that it can beat the best teams the AFC has to offer this season, as the Texans have wins over the Kansas City Chiefs, the New England Patriots and now the Titans. However, this team is likely looking at being the No. 4 seed in the AFC playoff picture, as they are not likely to catch either Kansas City or New England in the standings.
This was a win that the Texans battled through and one that Bill O’Brien’s team can definitely build on heading into January. While this not a team that we can trust to be able to win multiple playoff games in the AFC this season, we can trust Houston to be good enough in the final two weeks to punch its ticket into the AFC playoffs as back-to-back AFC South division champions.