Position, not payback
Titans host Texans with minds on AFC South race
NASHVILLE — Staying atop the AFC South standings and chasing the franchise’s first playoff berth since 2008. The Tennessee Titans insist that will be their only focus when they host the Houston Texans today, needing a win against the two-time division champ to remain exactly where they want to be.
Payback? Revenge for the 57-14 thumping the Texans handed Tennessee on Oct. 1 ?
A mere memory.
“Nope, don’t feel like we owe them one,” Titans tight end Delanie Walker said. “They got us. They whipped our butt. That happened. But in the back of our minds, I know everybody knows that. At the end of the day, we’ve got to go out there, we can’t play frustrated. We can’t play angry. We’ve got to play smart football, and that’s the only way we’re going to be able to win.”
The Titans do hope they learned a painful lesson. They went to Houston winners of two straight games and left embarrassed as the Texans scored the most points in franchise history, with Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota missing the second half with an injured left hamstring.
Now the Titans (7-4) have won five of their past six games and are coming off their first win at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis after beating the Colts 20-16 last week. That victory moved Tennessee back ahead of Jacksonville atop the division, and Titans defensive lineman Jurrell Casey said that simply makes Houston (4-7) the next team up.
“Another opponent in the way to our final goal — that’s trying to get to the playoffs and try to make it to the Super Bowl,” Casey said.
The Texans are coming off a 23-16 loss Monday night in Baltimore, and their injuries keep coming. This past week, two more players joined quarterback Deshaun Watson, defensive end J.J. Watt and linebacker Whitney Mercilus on injured reserve.
Houston coach Bill O’Brien, who is 6-1 against the Titans, said he isn’t taking much from his team’s earlier win in this series.
“They’re different,” O’Brien said. “We’re different, obviously. I can tell you that it will be a much tougher football game, no doubt about it.”
Tennessee had its worst day stopping the run this season in that loss in Houston as the Texans piled up 173 yards. Now the Titans rank fifth overall in rushing defense, having held opponents to an average of 89.2 yards per game. Since the loss to the Texans, they have not allowed an opponent to run for 100 yards.
But the Titans know they have room to improve despite their recent success. Mariota has been intercepted six times over the past two games and has a career-worst 12 picks in his third pro season.
He has been dissecting video to see what he can do better, but it’s not an experience the quarterback likes.
“I think it hurts our team, it puts our team in bad situations and I never want to be that guy,” Mariota said. “I just want to continue to make plays, give guys around me the opportunity to make plays. I’ve just got to get better and not allow those types of things to hurt our team.”