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Titans vs. Texans: Staff picks and predictions for Week 17

By Michael Moraitis

NASHVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 15: Head coach Mike Vrabel of the Tennessee Titans shakes hands with head coach Bill O'Brien of the Houston Texans after the game at Nissan Stadium on December 15, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. Houston defeats Tennessee 24-21. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 15: Head coach Mike Vrabel of the Tennessee Titans shakes hands with head coach Bill O'Brien of the Houston Texans after the game at Nissan Stadium on December 15, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. Houston defeats Tennessee 24-21. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images) /
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Titans RB, Derrick Henry.
NASHVILLE, TN – NOVEMBER 24: Derrick Henry #22 celebrates with A.J. Brown #11of the Tennessee Titans after Brown scored a touchdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars during the second half at Nissan Stadium on November 24, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans defeated the Jaguars 42-20. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /

Michael Moraitis (Co-expert)

With him already battling an injury, there was absolutely not a snowball’s chance in hell Texans head coach Bill O’Brien was risking his star quarterback in what is mostly a meaningless game in Week 17.

Therefore, the Titans’ road to making the playoffs just got easier, and should they find a way to lose this game against backups, they don’t deserve to make the playoffs.

Backups or not, the biggest key to success for Tennessee on Sunday is getting Derrick Henry back after he was ruled out in Week 16 in favor of resting his injured hamstring for this exact moment.

With Henry back in the fold, the Texans must respect the run, and that will open up the play-action passing game much more than we saw last week when the Saints didn’t have to respect the run and were able to pin their ears back and rush Ryan Tannehill relentlessly.

After a “quiet” few weeks that saw the Titans score 49 combined points in two straight losses, Tennessee rebounds nicely against a poor pass defense in Houston’s to pick up the slack for its own struggling and injury-riddled secondary.

Final score prediction: Titans 34, Texans 23

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