Houston Needs to Keep Rolling Through Titans Ahead of Thursday Night Football
Let's see if the offense can carry it over
The last time the Houston Texans had a massive fourth quarter, they followed it up with four quarters of dominance in their next game.
It will be interesting to see if a Davis Mills-led Texans can carry over some of the fourth-quarter success.
To do that, three things likely need to be replicated.
Nico Collins needs to be gluttonously fed targets by the Texans. He tied a career-high for targets in the win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. It would be nice to see that occur again. Collins is the best player on offense. Sending passes his way shouldn’t be an option; it should be a requirement.
“I think they [the Jacksonville Jaguars] were giving us some looks where he was isolated in one-on-one coverage and we liked the matchup,” Mills said about the numerous targets for Collins. “Then there were other things where we were trying to scheme him to get him open. [WR] Nico [Collins] is extremely explosive with the ball in his hand. As many times we can get him the ball, good things usually happen for us. If defenses start covering him, it opens up a lot of our other guys too. So, I think when he’s playing well, I think our whole offense is going to do well.”
The offense needs to lean on running back Woody Marks. He was the lead back for the Texans against the Jaguars, but that felt dependent on the game script. Houston was behind; they needed a capable pass catcher at running back. Marks brings more to the offense than Nick Chubb. Playing him will help whoever the team is playing at quarterback.
Finally, the best offensive line needs to be playing. Jarrett Patterson and Trent Brown deserve another crack at trying to hold down a spot. Tytus Howard is set to return. The Texans can play all three if Patterson plays left guard, Howard plays right guard, and Brown is the right tackle. The Texans have shuffled plenty, with good and bad reasons, why stop until you have found, clearly, the best five?
If offensive coordinator Nick Caley can carry those things over into this game and keep them present when C.J. Stroud hopefully returns Thursday, maybe the Texans will find some good consistency on offense.
One Player to Watch
The Texans have some options to replace the injured M.J. Stewart at safety. The player, or players, who replace Stewart are the ones to watch. Houston signed Myles Bryant to the active roster. He was the replacement after Stewart went down in the game last week. He is slight in stature, but DeMeco Ryans praised his intelligence. Jalen Mills was promoted from the practice squad for this game. The veteran was with the Texans during training camp and has been with the team for several weeks. Mills brings tremendous experience, having played in over 100 games and started in more than 90 of those games. Rookie Jaylen Reed missed time due to an injury in training camp. Reed has potential, but his inexperience is the hurdle for him.
One Matchup to Watch
The defensive tackles of the Tennessee Titans against the interior offensive linemen of the Houston Texans is the matchup to watch. Jeffery Simmons and T’Vondre Sweat can wreck the offense if they go unchecked. The hope is that Jarrett Patterson, Jake Andrews, and Tytus Howard get the nod inside. If they do, they will have quite the battle to keep the terror twins of Tennessee from wrecking the offensive operation.
One Stat to Watch
The Houston Texans have had an interception in seven consecutive games. Rookie quarterback Cam Ward certainly will be put in a position to throw one. A Houston lead would put him up against this secondary that has been malicious in their ability to take the ball away. The Texans are far away from the record of 20 straight games, and just over halfway to the streak of 12 the Detroit Lions had last year.
Score Prediction
The Houston Texans win 24-10. This is a good spot for Davis Mills and the offense. It isn’t a nasty defense for them to face. There is momentum to carry over from last week. The defense should put them in excellent spots. Houston still has their offensive hiccups, and they actually have to put the players on the field that succeeded last week, but it’s a spot where the Texans should handle their business.
Lest you forget… Special Teams needs to not only show up, they need to actually play this game.