It’s imperative for this team to forget about Broncos, remember the Titans
Fortunately for the Texans organization, players and coaches are able to move on from exhilarating victories and crushing defeats faster than fans.
And that’s a good thing after the 38-24 loss to the Broncos at NRG Stadium that left fans and media doubting Bill O’Brien, his staff and his players with three games left in his sixth season as coach.
The ramifications of the Denver debacle could be catastrophic if the Texans allow the stench to linger long enough to interfere with their mission in the most important game of the season at Tennessee — the first of two against the Titans that should decide the AFC South.
“Like I said (after the game), a lot of things just weren’t very good,” O’Brien said Monday. “Coaching’s got to get better, and the playing’s got to get better, and
we’re going to work hard to do that, starting today.
“If you go out there, and for whatever reason things aren’t
going well in the beginning of the game and you can’t stem the tide, it becomes an avalanche. You never want that to happen, but it happened.
“Things sometimes don’t go the way you want them to go. Nobody wanted that game to go the way it went, but at least we don’t have the keys in the ignition headed for the golf course in three weeks. There’s a lot of football left. We’re in the hunt.”
O’Brien is correct. The Texans are in the hunt for the division title. If they hadn’t blown the Denver game, they would have been in the hunt for a first-round bye.
They defeated New England and Kansas City and own the head-to-head tiebreaker in case they finish with the same record as either of those teams. Now they have two more losses than the Patriots and one more than the Chiefs.
The Texans aren’t exactly stumbling and bumbling toward the finish line, but they are 2-2 over their last four games, in which they’ve been outscored by an average of 29-19.
Losing at Baltimore wasn’t surprising, but getting pulverized by the Broncos and rookie QB Drew Lock was shocking, especially one week after the impressive victory over New England.
Fans better hope the Texans and Titans aren’t going in different directions. Under secondyear coach Mike Vrabel, Tennesse has a four-game winning streak.
While the Texans were getting obliterated by the Broncos, the Titans were taking care of business at Oakland, destroying the Raiders 42-21 to improve their record to 8-5 and move into a first-place tie in the AFC South.
The Titans are 6-1 since Vrabel benched quarterback Marcus Mariota and replaced him with Ryan Tannehill, who’s playing better than at any previous time in his eight-year career.
The Titans are 6-1 with Tannehill. They’ve averaged 31.4 points in his seven starts, including 37.5 during the four-game winning streak. He has 15 touchdown passes and four interceptions as a starter. His 118.5 rating is far superior than his best at Miami (93.5 in 2016), where he was a firstround pick from Texas A&M.
If the Texans can’t stop Lock, who threw for 309 yards and three touchdowns in his second start, how in the world do they hope to contain Tannehill, who’s playing for a new contract the Titans are expected to give him?
Tannehill benefits from Derrick Henry’s outstanding rushing that’s given Tennessee’s offense terrific balance. Henry already has rushed for a career-high 1,243 yards. He has 13 touchdowns rushing and two receiving. In the Titans’ four-game winning streak, he has 599 yards, seven TDs and a 6.96-yard average per carry.
“Playing great,” O’Brien said when asked about the Titans. “They (average) over 30 points a game over their last four. Playing good defense. (They’ve) got a lot of good players running the ball, (a) very difficult opponent.”
When the Texans kick off against the Titans, it’s imperative they continue a season-long trend of bouncing back after losses. After their first four defeats, they recovered quickly enough to win, and obviously, they need to do it again, or they’ll drop into second place in the division.
After the Texans lost the 30-28 heartbreaker at New Orleans in the regular-season opener, they edged Jacksonville 13-12.
When they stunk it up at NRG Stadium against Carolina, losing 16-10 to the Panthers, they rebounded to beat Atlanta 53-32 in their most prolific offensive performance of the season.
The Texans followed a 30-23 loss at Indianapolis with a 27-24 victory over Oakland. And the 41-7 blowout at Baltimore motivated them to a 20-17 victory over the Colts.
But there’s one significant difference in the aftermath of the Denver defeat. Unlike after the first four losses, the Texans are going on the road to try to recover rather than playing at home.
The AFC South title is theirs if they want it bad enough. Win the last three games, and the Texans will finish 11-5 for a second consecutive season and earn another division title — O’Brien’s fourth.
Win two of the last three, including a victory over the Titans at NRG Stadium in the last game, and they’ll probably win the division.
Six weeks ago, the Texans’ last four games looked so appealing. They had to survive the most difficult stretch — three games against the Ravens, Colts and Patriots — before feasting on the Broncos, Titans, Buccaneers and the Titans again.
How things have changed. After Sunday’s game, the Texans play at Tampa Bay, while the Titans host New Orleans. Then they’ll tangle in a game that should mean the AFC South title.
“We’ve got a great group of guys,” O’Brien said. “They feel terrible about (Sunday). We all do. We’ve got to fix it and quickly turn the page. We’ve got a really good Titans team on the road in an important game, so we’ve got to get going.”