Texans ‘won’t take any chances’ with starters vs. Titans: Report
It looks like the Houston Texans will rest at least some of their starters against the Tennessee Titans in Week 17.
There has been a lot of back and forth about whether or not the Houston Texans would rest their starters against the Tennessee Titans in Week 17.
The thought has been the Texans would possibly put their key players on the field on Sunday if they could improve their seed to No. 3, which would be possible with a win over the Titans combined with a Kansas City Chiefs loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
Well, according to NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport, it looks like head coach Bill O’Brien will rest at least some of his best players even if the team is playing for the No. 3 seed.
One note for Sunday: The #Vikings are planning to rest their key starters and the #Texans won’t take any chances, either. Expect both to have several starters on the sidelines even if they aren’t inactive. Smart with little or nothing to play for.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 29, 2019
Based off this, I think it’s safe to say that there is zero chance the Texans will try to play spoilers by putting their starters out there just for the sole purpose of knocking the Titans out of playoff contention.
When the game kicks off at 3:25 p.m. CST, the Texans will already know what their situation is, as the Chiefs-Chargers game will be played in the earlier noon CST time slot. A win for the Chiefs would end the Texans’ chances at the No. 3 seed.
This is obviously great news for the Titans, as they need a win to clinch a playoff berth and facing predominantly backups helps that cause considerably.
Tennessee can also make the playoffs if they lose and both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Indianapolis Colts lose as well. Obviously the easier road is the one that involves the Titans controlling their own destiny.