Titans vs. Texans Game Review

The Titans ended their six-game losing streak in convincing fashion as they defeated the Houston Texans 31-17. The Titans jumped on the Texans early and never let up. They definitely didn’t resemble the team that was self-destructing before our eyes. The offense was fluid as Kenny Britt breathed some much needed life into the passing game. Chris Johnson was able to find some running lanes that haven’t been there in the losing skid. And even the defense jumped in recording four sacks, two forced fumbles and an interception by Alterraun Verner. The much hyped rematch of Cortland Finnegan and Andre Johnson never came in fruition and that should both should be applauded for letting cooler heads prevail. An all around victory for the Titans, as they keep their minimal playoff chances alive. They have to win out and the Colts and Jags would have to lose for Tennessee to win the division. In other words you and I reading this have a better chance at winning the power ball.

The Titans took control of this game in the first quarter as they racked up 21 points on their first three possessions. Kerry Collins hit rookie Damien Williams for a 39-yard strike on the eighth play of the drive to put the Titans in scoring position. Collins would find Nate Washington (I don’t know about that dance though Nate) for a 3-yard touchdown to cap a 9 play 60-yard drive to start the game. The Texans usually commanding offense was no where to be found in the first quarter as they ran a total of 12 plays resulting in total of 17 yards. In stark contrast, the Titans kept finding success in the air. Collins dialed up another bomb, this time to Kenny Britt for the first play of their second drive. Collins dropped a beautiful lob to Justin Gage in the corner of the end-zone to complete the drive.

After another three and out by Houston, the Titans received the ball with good field position at the Texans 44. Chris Johnson would begin to get loose on this drive as he ran for a 9 and 3 yard gain. Kerry Collins found an open Kenny Britt yet again for a 21-yard that put the Titans at the 11 of Houston. From their CJ would take it in for the score and the Titans were up 21-0 before you knew it.

Entering the second quarter, it looked as if the Titans would turn this one into a blowout and exact some revenge from the loss they took from the hands of the Texans the last time they met. But the Titans would offense would cool down and only muster a FG in the second quarter. The Texans could only match that FG by Tennessee and the score would be 24-3 going into halftime.

The game was pretty much over from there as Houston could never solve the Titans defense. The Texans would add two touchdowns after intermission but it wouldn’t be enough as the Titans would score again as well on a short drive and sealed the victory.

Tennessee finally looked like a team that was having fun again as evident by the big smiles and pats on the back on the sidelines. The offensive passing game was great as Kerry Collins had time from the offensive line to just pick apart the porous Texan secondary. Kenny Britt makes such a big difference for Tennessee when he is healthy as you can see. He provides big plays and energy to that unit. Chris Johnson 130 yards on 24 carries and a touchdown. He looked more like the 2009 CJ as he was able to get the edge a few times this game and break some long runs. Kerry Collins made some downright beautiful throws and even got lucky on that one Britt pass but I’m sure he will take luck any day. Vince Young even made an appearance on the sidelines as he and Kenny Britt looked to be having a good time. That is definite good sign for all Tennessee fans.

The Titans now are 6-8 and done with the six-game losing streak. They went 56 days in-between victories so this has to feel like a load coming off their back. They travel to division leading Kansas City next week before ending the season at Indianapolis in two weeks. Even though its highly unlikely that the Titans can make it in the playoffs due to their circumstances, weirder things have happened. We can say this much, at least they came out and played with some fire that we haven’t saw in quite a while and they still have a reason to play hard next week and just hope for some luck. Stay tuned folks.