Houston's Reliant Stadium is set for a 1:00 PM kickoff this New Year's Day for an AFC South battle between the host division champion Texans and the visitors, the second-place Tennessee Titans. The first meeting between the two, back in Week 7, resulted in a decisive 41-7 romp by Houston in Nashville.
"Complete domination" on the part of the Texans was an understatement, with Houston piling up 518 yards of offense to Tennessee's 148, controlling the football for 37:58 to the Titans' 22:02, and not allowing the home Titans on the scoreboard until 5:34 remained in the third quarter. Houston's defense was suffocating, holding both Tennessee's ground game (53 yards) and passing attack (95 yards) under the century mark, an extreme rarity in today's NFL. RB Arian Foster did most of the heavy-lifting for the Texans, rushing for 115 yards and two TDs, while also latching onto 5 passes for 119 yards and another score as Houston, with the win, snapped a two-game skid to up its record to 4-3 and re-take the AFC South lead over the Titans. The win began a franchise-record seven-game winning streak for Houston, culminating with a Week 14 victory over Cincinnati, which clinched the AFC South, as well as earning the Texans their first-ever ticket to the postseason.
Tennessee meanwhile, despite nagging injuries and inconsistency on offense, primarily by two-time NFL rushing champion Chris Johnson, has fashioned a 5-4 won-loss mark since to stay alive for a possible wild-card berth, although they need a lot of help to gain a slot in the postseason. They rebounded from the ignominy of being the first team to lose to Indianapolis (Week 15) by topping Jacksonville, 23-17 on Christmas Eve. QB Matt Hasselbeck had his most productive game of the season with 350 yards and a touchdown, while TE Jared Cook enjoyed his best season as an NFLer, grabbing 8 passes for 169 yards. Even Johnson contributed, piling up 56 yards on 15 rushing attempts. Despite the speedy Johnson's up-and-down 2011, he has now amassed 986 yards for the season, and should go over the 1,000 yard mark for the fourth consecutive year. He suffered a ankle injury against the Jaguars and was limited in practice, but is expected to play on Sunday.
On the other hand, Houston has dropped two straight since clinching the division title, and faces the possibility (although only via a set of improbable circumstances) of having to face Tennessee next week in a first-round playoff game. For that to happen, the Titans first must defeat Houston, the Bengals must lose to Baltimore, either Denver or Oakland must lose, and the New York Jets have to defeat Miami. Or ...... both the Broncos and Raiders win, combined with a Jets loss, sets up the unlikely rematch next weekend back in Houston.
The Texans received a bit of good news this week when All-Pro WR Andre Johnson, plagued nearly all season with hamstring issues, is listed as probable for Sunday's game. Houston still has some question marks however, beginning with rookie QB T.J. Yates, who after a sparkling debut filling in for Matt Leinart (who was filling in for de facto starter Matt Schaub), has stumbled in the past two weeks. Johnson's return would not only take some of the pressure off of Yates, but would provide a huge emotional lift for the struggling team overall.
One steady constant for Houston is its' defense, which currently boasts the NFL's third-ranked pass defense and is the league's third-stingiest against the run, surrendering just 96.7 yards per game.
Apparently due to Houston's recent swoon, the early betting line favors the Titans by -3 points. If that were indeed to occur, the rest of the afternoon's games will be eagerly watched by both teams.
