Texans fall to Titans

By Elwyn Henderson

    The 7-4 Houston Texans, fresh off their 24-point win over the Dallas Cowboys 6 days earlier in Arlington, returned to NRG Stadium in Houston Sunday and hosted the 2-8 Tennessee Titans.  Houston came in with a two game lead in the AFC South with 6 games left in the regular season. They picked up right where they left off against the Cowboys.

     The Titans won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half.  Dameon Pierce took the opening Nick Folk kickoff at his 7 and broke a tackle near midfield and returned the ball down to the Tennessee 19.

     CJ Stroud brought the offense out and they wasted little time getting into the end zone for the first time.  The drive was 1-play, 19 yards and took just 18 seconds off the clock.  Stroud hit tight end Cade Stoner on a 19-yard TD pass with 14:42 left in the first quarter. Ka’Imi Fairbairn added the PAT and Houston had a quick 7-0 lead.

     Fairbairn’s kickoff was returned up to the Titan 28. Will Levis led his unit on a 6-play, 28-yard drive over 3:27 that led to a 51-yard Folk field goal with 11:15 left in the quarter, moving the score to 7-3.

     Folk’s ensuing kickoff resulted in a touchback and Stroud and company began their second drive at their 30. They moved the ball up to the 42 but Tennessee forced a Tommy Townsend punt on a 4th and 9. The kick was fair caught at the Titan 11 and the visitors went back to work on offense.

     Levis led Tennessee on a 10-play, 89-yard drive that consumed 5:59 seconds.  The drive ended with a 38-yard TD pass from Levis to Nick Westbrook Ikhine with 1:57 left in the opening frame. Folk hit the extra point and the visitors took a shocking 10-7 lead.

     Pierce returned the next kickoff from 2 yards deep in the end zone across the Houston 40 but a hold on the return moved the ball back to the 18 where Stroud hit the field again hoping to get his team back into the lead.  It was a short possession however, as the team suffered a three-and-out.  Townsend punted the ball away on the first play of the second quarter.  The ball sailed down to the Titans 9 where an illegal blindside block moved the pigskin back to the 5.

     With Levis and his group backed up fans got loud hoping for a turnover.  It wasn’t in the cards though.  Levis hit Calvin Ridley for a 63-yard gain down to Houston’s 16 and 2 plays later Tony Pollard found the end zone from 10 yards out with 11:03 left in the half to put the Titans up 16-7 after Folk’s extra point and Houston fans were in total shock with their team trailing 17-7.  The drive was 6 plays, 95 yards and took 3:44 of the second quarter clock.

     After a Pierce return of Folk’s next kickoff Houston began at their 22 for their next drive. A 39-yard gain on a pass to Tank Dell set up the next Texans score. The drive ended with a Stroud 5-yard TD pass to Nico Collins with 6:17 left in the first half of play.  Fairbairn’s point after was good and Houston cut the deficit to 17-14.  The drive was 10 plays, 78 yards and took 4:46 off the clock.

     After Fairbairn’s kickoff touchback the Titans went back on offense.  Levis moved Tennessee down to the Texans 32 when a fumble was recovered by Mario Edwards with 3:24 left in the half and Stroud had one more chance to get the lead back before the teams headed to the locker room.

     Stroud hit Nico Collins for a 56-yard gain down to the Titans 9 and they were in great shape to get the lead at the half.  It didn’t happen, as the defense shut things down and Fairbairn booted a 28-yard field goal with 1:47 left in the half.  That knotted the score at 17-17.  The drive was 5 plays, 55 yards and took 1:37.

     Following a touchback the Titans began at their 30 once again.  Tony Pollard ran free around right end for 28 yards and it looked like Tennessee might end up taking the lead back before the half ended.  Fortunately, the defense rose to the occasion and forced a punt that was downed at the Houston 14.

     On the second play of the possession Stroud was intercepted at the Houston 20 with 37 seconds left in the half and the Titans had one more chance to regain the lead.

     Houston’s defense rose to the challenge and backed Levis and company all the way back to the 38.  With 2 seconds left Folk came out to attempt a 56-yard field goal on the last play of the half.  The kick was good and the teams headed to their respective locker rooms with Tennessee back in the lead, 20-17.  The drive was 4 plays, 18 yards and took 37 seconds.

     Tennessee got the ball to begin the second half.  They moved the ball down to the Houston 33 and the defense forced a 51-yard Folk field goal with 9:08 left in the third quarter of play, giving the Titans a 23-17 lead.  The drive was 11 plays, 41 yards and consumed 5:52.

     Houston was forced to punt on their first possession of the half and Levis and his charges began their next drive at their 16.  They picked up one first down and then had to punt.  The Ryan Stonehouse punt was downed at the Houston 25 and Stroud brought the offense out desperately needing to find the end zone again.

     On the second play Stroud was intercepted at his 39 yard line and the Titans set up in great shape to add to their advantage.

     With their backs to the wall, the defense got the shot in the arm they needed when Jimmie Ward intercepted Levis and ran down the right sideline 65 yards for a pick-6 TD with 4 seconds left in the third period.  Fairbairn added the extra point and Houston had their first lead of the day, 24-23.

     Tennessee’s next possession began at their 27 after the kickoff return as the fourth quarter began.  Thanks to a couple of holding calls against the offense it was quick three-and-out and following a 62-yard punt and a return up to the Texans 34 Stroud was back on the field with a chance to redeem himself. Sadly, it wasn’t to be as Townsend had to punt the ball away.  Fortunately, Gilmer’s Kris Boyd grabbed a fumble on the return at the Titans 43 and the Texans were back on the offensive.

     They could only pick up 7 yards, forcing Fairbairn to come in and kick a 54-yard field goal with 9:46 left in the contest.  The kick was good and Houston led 27-23.  The drive was 4 plays, yards and took 1:38.    

     The visitors began their next drive at their 30 following yet another touchback.  On the first play of the possession Levis hit a streaking Chig Okonkwo with 9:35 left in the game.  Folk added the extra point and Tennessee recaptured the lead, 30-27.  The1-play, 70-yard drive took just 11 seconds.

     The next Folk kickoff was taken and bobbled and returned only to their 18.  Stroud moved the team up to the 44 but Townsend was forced to punt from that point on fourth down.  The specials teams did a great job, pinning Levis and his guys were backed up at their 6. The defense forced a three-and-out and after a Stonehouse punt and a penalty for holding on the kick the Texans began with 5:22 left at the Tennessee 49.

     Stroud threw a TD pass but Houston was flagged for two men in motion at the same time negating the score. The offense wasn’t affected as they methodically moved the ball toward the end zone.  They ran out of gas at the 10 and Fairbairn came in for a 33 yard field goal to tie the game.  In a rare occurrence Fairbairn’s kick from the same distance as an extra point sailed wide left and Tennessee took over at their 30 holding on to the 3-point lead with under two minutes left.

     The Houston defense did their job and forced a punt from the Titans 24 with 1:39 left in the game.  The kick was returned from the 25 but MJ Stewart was called for a blindside block and the ball went back to the 8.

     Things could not have gone any worse on the possession, as Stroud was forced out of the end zone on the second play following a 6-yard loss, resulting in a safety and raising the Titans lead to 32-27, guaranteeing the Texans would go down and see their record fall to 7-5 with 5 games left to go.

A very disappointed Coach DeMeco Ryans faced the media after the game and blamed himself for the loss.

“It was a disappointing loss for us. We didn’t do anything well enough to win this game. Out of all the positives that we did have, there were way too many negatives. Too many negative plays. Score, get a penalty, get touchdowns called back. Get penalties on special teams. Just way too many negative plays defensively, like unexplainable explosives for touchdowns. We just didn’t play good across the board. That starts with me, obviously. We weren’t ready to go as a team so that starts with me. The most frustrating part about it is out of all the bad things that happened we still had a chance to finish the game, right? Everything that could go wrong, it went wrong. We still had a chance there to tie it up and finish the game, and we didn’t.”

     When quarterback CJ Stroud came out for his presser he was asked about the lack of scoring in the second half this season.

    “You can point at a lot of places, but I always point at myself. I’m the leader of the offense. I’ve got to get us rolling, get our rhythm, we’ve got to find a better way to end the first half, and start the second half better. That ultimately starts with me in taking care of the football and getting into a rhythm, running the ball well, getting us into the right reads, and the right looks. I would say that’s how we’re going to get better is I’ve got to be better.”

     Houston travels to Jacksonville on Sunday to take on the Jaguars, another team they should have no problem with but the way things have been going lately with the team losing 4 of their last 6 games, you can’t take anything for granted with the Texans.