The Houston Texans (1-4) will make the trip to Nashville to take on the Tennessee Titans (4-0). It’ll be a battle of the AFC South teams on Sunday as the Texans try to top the undefeated Titans. Houston currently ties for worst in the AFC South, and they are just one loss from being the worst in the AFC as a whole. The Titans sit at the top of the division and are one of two teams in the conference with an undefeated streak. These teams faced off the last time in December of last year, where the Texans closed out their season with a 35-14 loss.
(Late injury reports and line movements were updated on Saturday afternoon.)
Line Movements:
The line hasn't moved all that much this week, in part because the Titans have a short week of rest after playing Tuesday. Tennessee opened as a three-point favorite and now stands as a 3.5-point favorite in the game. 59 percent of the bets ATS are backing the Titans giving the points in this contest.
The total has dropped slightly in this contest as the week has gone on. When the lines came out, the total for this game was at 55 points but it now can be found at 53 or 53.5 points depending on the sportsbook. 64 percent of the bets on the total see this game going over the total.
Game-time Weather: Game-time temperature in this contest is expected to be in the mid-60s with mostly cloudy skies. There is around a 50 percent chance of rain at kickoff and there will be between a 30 and 40 percent chance of precipitation throughout the game with the temperatures bumping up to the high-60s. Winds are expected from the south though they will be minimal, expected around seven miles an hour with gusts kicking up near 10 miles an hour.
Texans Pick Up Their First Win Of The Season
It’s no secret that the Texans had an interesting offseason. After finishing 2019 on top of the AFC South, the team seemed set for a quiet offseason in preparation for another postseason run. However, their former general manager was fired, and their head coach was promoted to the newly vacant position. Several controversial trades later that sent some of the teams’ strongest players away, and 2020 had a different looking Texans team. In the first weeks of the season, none of those big moves seemed to have paid off. Texas was handed loss after loss, falling to teams at the top and bottom of the standings.
Houston picked up their first victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. They beat the struggling Jaguars team 30-14 just days after firing general manager and head coach Bill O’Brien and replacing him with interim coach Romeo Crennel. The Texans had 486 total yards, with 357 passing and 129 rushing yards.Deshaun Watsoncompleted 25 of his 35 attempted passes, had three passing touchdowns, and rushed for 25 yards. Brandin Cooks was finally on the receiving end of some of Watson’s passes, having 161 yards across eight receptions. He had one touchdown. Ka’imi Fairbairn made all three of his attempted field goals, as well as all three extra-point opportunities.
Injury Report:
OUT: CB Gareon Conley, LB Duke Ejiofor, LB Bernardrick McKinney, S A.J. Moore Jr., NT Eddie Vanderdoes, TE Kahale Warring
Questionable: TE Jordan Akins, CB Cornell Armstrong, LB Dylan Cole, WR Isaiah Coulter, RB Buddy Howell, LB Peter Kalambayi, T Laremy Tunsil
Titans Remain Undefeated
The Titans enter the fifth week of their season as one of four teams in the league that remain undefeated. Before their Tuesday night game, five teams held that distinction. However, after their victory over the Buffalo Bills, that number was reduced. This is the first time since 2008 that the Titans have gone 4-0 to open up their season, and only the second time in the franchise’s history that they’ve had such a streak. They’ve managed all of this even while dealing with COVID-19 struggles. Over the past 16 days, the team has only been able to practice three times. This was due to their practice facility being shut down since September 29th. Between staff and players, there have been 24 people to test positive for COVID-19 since the shutdown.
When they faced off against the Bills, the Titans didn’t look like a team that had only practiced three times in over two weeks. Despite only having possession for 27:36, Tennessee beat the Bills 42-16. They had 334 total yards, with a fairly even split between their 195 passing yards and 139 rushing yards.Ryan Tannehillplayed a rock-solid game. He completed 21 of 28 pass attempts, had three passing touchdowns, and rushed for 42 yards across four carries for a single rushing touchdown. Derrick Henry led the team with 19 carries and 57 rushing yards on top of running in a pair of touchdowns. Jonnu Smith was another double scorer on the team, with 40 yards across five receptions. Stephen Gostkowski had no attempted field goals during the game, though he did succeed on all six extra-point attempts.
Injury Report:
OUT: LS Beau Brinkley, WR Corey Davis, RB Darrynton Evans, CB Kristian Fulton, WR Adam Humphries, CB Adoree' Jackson, DL DaQuan Jones, T Anthony McKinney, RB Senorise Perry, TE MyCole Pruitt
Questionable: FB Khari Blasingame, DE Jadeveon Clowney, DB Dane Cruikshank, LB Nick Dzubnar, DB Chris Jackson, CB Johnathan Joseph, T Dennis Kelly, T Taylor Lewan, RB Jeremy McNichols, CB Chris Milton, DL Larell Murchison, LB Derick Roberson, T Isaiah Wilson
Notable Trends
- The Texans are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games overall.
- The Texans are 0-4-1 ATS in their last 5 games following an ATS win.
- The Titans are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games following an ATS win.
- The Titans are 7-1 SU in their last 8 games.
