The Titans have a chance to end the Texans season in Houston today. Can they take advantage?
The 0-3 Tennessee Titans take on the 0-3 Houston Texans in Houston today. If we are being honest, it’s no real surprise that the Titans enter this game 0-3. It was always going to be a tall task for the Titans to win either of their first two games, and we didn’t know when the season started that Daniel Jones was going to go to Indy and become the second coming of Andrew Luck. The Texans, however, came into the season as the heavy favorites to win the division and had aspirations of taking the next step towards becoming a bona fide contender.
That obviously hasn’t happened for them. They are off to a bad start, primarily due to not being able to close out games. This from Dianni Russini:
….the 0-3 Texans keep finding ways to give them back. Week 1 against the Rams? A fumble with under two minutes to play. Week 2 vs. Tampa Bay? Three failed cracks from the 1-yard line, plus a missed sack on fourth-and-10 that set up a Bucs touchdown with six seconds left. Week 3 against Jacksonville? Two fourth-quarter turnovers in scoring range, including an interception with 27 seconds on the clock. Three games, three gut-punch endings.
The Titans have a chance today to effectively end the Texans’ season. Can they take advantage? The key will be finding a way to get Cam Ward in a rhythm early in this game. That won’t be easy, running a bad backup right tackle against Houston’s front. We got news on Friday that Oli Udoh will get the start at right tackle, with undrafted free agent rookie Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson being the swing tackle.
I’d love to see some early, easy targets for Calvin Ridley. He has struggled with drops early in the season, but he is still their best playmaker on offense. Quarterbacks coach Bo Hardegree, who takes over as the play-caller from head coach Brian Callahan this week, should find a way to get the ball in Ridley’s hands, assuming he can catch it, right from the jump.
On defense, Dennard Wilson has to take advantage of Houston’s struggling offensive line. Again, not an easy task with no EDGE presence to speak of. Jeffery Simmons has been really good through the first three games. He needs to continue that today if the Titans are going to have a chance to stop the Texans.
L’Jarius Sneed made news earlier this week when he responded, “Who?” when asked about Nico Collins. You love the swagger. Now, he needs to go out there and back it up today. That also won’t be easy because Collins is a really good receiver, and Sneed hasn’t played as a shutdown corner since he came to Tennessee.
The only chance the Titans have here is to find a way to stay ahead of the sticks. Stop committing the penalties early in the downs that have put them in so many third-and-long situations because they simply cannot protect Ward in those situations.
Category: General Sports
