The Tennessee Titans’ nosedive in the second half of this season continued in Week 16 when they dropped their fifth-straight game with a 19-14 loss to the Houston Texans on Saturday.
With the loss, the Titans now fall to second place in the AFC South behind the Jacksonville Jaguars and are on the outside looking in for the playoffs, which seemed unfathomable just weeks ago.
Tennessee’s offense was plagued by much of the same issues it has been all season long, including awful play-calling from Todd Downing and shoddy blocking, especially from the tackle spots.
Making matters worse, there wasn’t much improvement from Malik Willis over his last two starts, and the Titans did their absolute best to hide the rookie signal-caller.
Despite all that, the Titans still had multiple chances to win this game, but the defense couldn’t make a stop with the Titans up 14-13 late in the fourth quarter, surrendering a 73-yard scoring drive to go down 19-14.
Willis and Co. threatened to come back down and score on the next drive, but the rookie threw a costly interception. The Titans would get the ball back one more time but were unsurprisingly unable to drive 96 yards with a little over one minute remaining in regulation.
Now, the rest of everything we know from Week 16.
Final score: Texans 19, Titans 14
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
| HOU | 7 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 19 |
| TEN | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
It was over when...
With the Titans down 19-14, Malik Willis threw a pick with under two minutes left in the fourth quarter to thwart Tennessee’s potential game-winning drive that was at midfield.
The Titans would get the ball back with 1:10 left, but Tennessee’s offense was never going to drive 96 yards to score a game-winning touchdown.
Titans' top performers
RB Derrick Henry: 23 carries, 126 yards, TD, FUM
LB Jack Gibbens: 8 tackles (4 solo), PD, INT
DL Denico Autry: 7 tackles (5 solo, 2 for loss), 2 PD, sack, 2 QB hits
Instant analysis
-The Titans did their best to hide Willis in the passing game, but the rookie didn’t show us much improvement when he did throw. Willis threw a pair of picks (one was on a Hail Mary at the end of the game), and he had trouble keeping his footing on multiple occasions.
-All that said, the rookie was up against it with terrible play-calling and shoddy pass protection. Todd Downing simply refuses to utilize Willis’ athleticism more, which is puzzling.
-Derrick Henry broke the century mark yet again, but 48 of his 126 yards came on one run. Subtract that and Henry averaged 3.5 yards per carry. Henry had a costly fumble in the fourth quarter that led to Houston points. The fumble was Henry’s sixth overall and third lost, and he has four fumbles (three lost) in his last three games. He officially has a fumbling problem.
-With Ben Jones and Nate Davis out, the Titans deployed Corey Levin at center and Jordan Roos at right guard. Both were actually solid in this game, which is more than we can say for Nicholas Petit-Frere and Dennis Daley, who were the weakest links on Saturday. Petit-Frere also exited the contest early with an injury.
-Tennessee’s defense was rock-solid against the run, but the secondary had multiple lapses in coverage that led to big plays and scoring drives for Houston. Without those, maybe the Titans win this game.
-Another costly play was Zach Cunningham dropping a sure interception in the end zone on the Texans’ first scoring drive. That play proved costly, as Houston scored just one play later.
-Denico Autry made his presence felt immediately upon his return, notching the Titans’ lone sack and making several great plays throughout the game. Jack “Dr. Gibby” Gibbens was sensational, also, as he notched some big tackles and the Titans’ lone turnover.
-The Titans lost the turnover battle, 3-1. Houston was 5-14 on third downs and 2-4 in the red zone, while the Titans were 4-12 on third downs and 1-1 in the red zone.
Injuries
LB Zach Cunningham (elbow): Cunningham was spotted heading into the locker room in the second quarter. He didn’t return.
RT Nicholas Petit-Frere (ankle): Petit-Frere came out in the third quarter. He did not come back into the game.
OLB Bud Dupree (chest): Dupree got hurt in the third quarter and was absent the rest of the way.
What's next?
With the loss, the Titans (7-8) fall to below .500 and are currently in second place in the AFC South behind the Jacksonville Jaguars (7-8) via head-to-head tie-breaker. The five-game losing streak is the longest in the Mike Vrabel era.
The Titans and Jaguars are on track for a Week 18 winner-take-all in Duval. Tennessee hosts the Dallas Cowboys on the road in Week 17 on Thursday night, while the Jags travel to take on the Texans.
