Titans 41, Texans 38: 11 Takes - Valiant Effort, Merciful End
HOUSTON - The Houston Texans couldn't play spoiler to the Tennessee Titans' playoff hopes once the game kicked off. The Titans were in the playoffs no matter what.
Houston tried its best to cost the Titans the AFC South title, but the Texans came up short. Houston closes the season at an extremely disappointing 4-12. ... a merciful closing, really.
Our 11 Takes on a 41-38 loss ...
11. Romeo Crennel had been adamant the team was going to try to win football games despite the season's assured end with no playoffs.
It made the coach's decision to punt on the opening drive for the Texans a curious one. The team only needed two yards. I suppose Crennel's old-school mentality finally erased the aggressiveness that endeared him to the fanbase to start his interim tenure.
10. Deshaun Watson threw a rare bad interception in the first quarter. He has, however, cleaned up interceptions a ton since his college years and rookie season.
It was only the second interception in the past 11 games.
And the big numbers: Watson finished 28-of-39 for 365 yards and three touchdowns to win the NFL’s passing title.
9. Trading Brandin Cooks is a curious thought process for the Texans this offseason. His chemistry with Deshaun Watson is clear every week. He can easily be a factor in the wide receiver room for another season or two.
Cooks finished with 11 catches for 166 yards and two touchdowns.
8. The Texans did great on the first six carries by Derrick Henry.
Then there was the seventh carry.
Derrick Henry should contact Cal McNair about his partial ownership of the Houston Texans.
7. The Texans waited until the season couldn't matter any less to pull out this trick play. Considering the entire coaching staff is likely to get blown out this was a nice addition to the special teams coaches' resumes.
6. Rich Gannon was horrid in the TV broadcast coverage of the Texans. First, he suggested Titans linebacker Brooks Reed sacked his "former teammate" Deshaun Watson. Redd played for the Texans 2011-2014. He was in his third year with Atlanta when Watson took his first snaps for the Texans.
Gannon later suggested David Johnson should be a featured back in the NFL going forward. He then speculated Houston didn't run the ball enough and lacked patience with the rushing attack.
Gannon, of course, earlier this year when the Texans played the Titans, was incredulous in his thoughts of Romeo Crennel going for two instead of kicking an extra point late. The Texans would lose that game when Tennessee tied the game anyway and won in overtime.
5. The Texans scored on a trick play as coordinator Tim Kelly dialed up the flea flicker and Watson delivered a beauty of a strike to Cooks.
Watson would find Cooks to finish the next drive with a long touchdown. After forcing a fumble it was again Watson and Cooks getting the Texans in scoring position.
Watson would add a third touchdown, hitting tight end Pharoh Brown in the fourth quarter.
4. The spirit-breaking running of Henry was present again. He rumbled past the Texans' defensive line, which put up little resistance.
It marks the third straight game Henry has gone over 200 yards against the Texans. He would go over 2,000 yards rushing with his final-game total of 246 yards on 33 carries, while scoring two touchdowns.
It wouldn't break the spirit of the Texans, though.
Houston would force a fumble on the next drive as Zach Cunningham finally had a positive play against Henry. The next drive was a fourth-down stop.
The Texans couldn't hold on the final drive for the Titans, however.
3. Second-year defensive lineman Charles Omenihu has come on strong with some flashes here in the latter part of the season. He came up with a big sack when the Titans attempted to go for it on fourth and long.
2. J.J. Watt did his best to give the Texans a throwback Watt performance but his teammates allowed the Titans to neutralize him. Watt could have played his last game for the Texans, and he went out with effort which was never questioned in his time with the Texans. He added some tackles for a loss to his season total.
Despite having little to play for, Watt busted his hump all year long.
1. The loss was almost expected, based on how this team has played late in games over the past month. Yes, Houston got the game-tying 51-yard field goal late. But ... The Titans were far too much on their final drive and ate so much clock the Texans had a too-narrow margin to complete a comeback.
Somehow, the Titans got single coverage for their best wide receiver and set themselves up for a game-winning field goal when Ryan Tannehill found A.J. Brown deep. Then rookie Sam Sloman kicked the game-winning 37-yard field goal that hit the right upright and then bounced over the crossbar.
And still ... almost expected.
But also expected: Deshaun,
Watson has the future of the Texans looking so much brighter than the future of a team with four wins should look. He finished the season as the league-leader in passing yards playing with mostly backups for weeks.
He is the player that can lead the Texans out of a dark dark time for this franchise.
