The Tennessee Titans have two more games left before their disappointing 2023 campaign comes to a merciful end, with the first of those contests coming in Week 17 against the Houston Texans.
While no doubt disappointing, Tennessee’s second playoff-less season in a row hasn’t been a total failure.
The Titans have gotten an impressive season overall out of their 2023 draft class, which is highlighted by rookie quarterback Will Levis, who looks like a long-term solution in Tennessee.
Adding to the optimism for 2024, general manager Ran Carthon will have a ton of cap space to work with, on top of early selections in the first two rounds.
Meanwhile, the Texans have made a massive leap in the first year of the DeMeco Ryans era, mostly thanks to the outstanding play of their rookie signal-caller, C.J. Stroud, who has been better than anyone could have expected.
Now, a look at five things to know ahead of this AFC South showdown.
Head-to-head history
In 43 previous meetings between these two teams, the Texans have won 23 of them, including each of the last two. Tennessee and Houston last met in Week 15.
Prior to the Texans’ two-game winning streak versus the Titans, Tennessee had won five out of the last six contests.
Texans are favored
After the Titans were favored last time around, mostly thanks to the absence of C.J. Stroud, the Texans are now the favorites for this contest, with Tennessee being a 5.5-point underdog, per BetMGM.
This spread has actually increased since the start of the week, when Houston was a 3.5-point favorite. The over/under has also gone up from 42.5 to 43.5.
The increases are likely due to the fact that Stroud’s outlook to play has improved (more on that shortly).
The Titans are 6-8-1 against the spread and have hit the over five times, per Team Rankings. The Texans are slightly better against the spread and at hitting the over, with Houston sporting marks of 7-8 and 6-10, respectively.
Battle of impressive young QBs (potentially)
Thanks to Stroud’s concussion, we weren’t able to see a battle of two of the most promising young quarterbacks in the NFL when Houston and Tennessee last met in Week 15.
Stroud has been brilliant in his rookie season and is the clear favorite for Offensive Rookie of the Year. Levis hasn’t had as much success, but he’s clearly got the goods to be a long-term solution for Tennessee.
As fun as it would be to watch these two square off, we may get robbed of it again, as neither player is certain to suit up. Stroud is still working his way back from a concussion, while Levis is battling an ankle injury.
The good news is, both practiced on Wednesday. Hopefully, both youngsters can get right ahead of Sunday, as it would make this game much more interesting.
Titans are terrible on the road
The Titans have been bad in general this year, but they’ve been particularly awful on the road. Tennessee sports a 1-6 road record, and they’re 1-7 in total away from Nissan Stadium when you include the London game.
The Titans also haven’t won back-to-back road games since Weeks 4 and 5 of last season. Tennessee will have an opportunity to snap that streak after beating the Miami Dolphins in their last road game.
Going in opposite directions
The Titans have an opportunity to play spoiler over the final two weeks, with games against the Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars coming up. However, doing that will hurt Tennessee’s draft position.
The Texans sport an 8-7 record like the Jaguars and Colts but are sitting in third due to tie-breaker. Houston also trails Indianapolis for the final playoff spot, with the Colts at No. 7 and the Texans at No. 8.
With things so tight in the AFC South and conference playoff race in general, every game is a must-win for the Texans, Colts and Jaguars, thus the Titans have a chance to spoil things for their division rivals over the final two weeks.
