Depending on how you look at it, the Tennessee Titans are facing a no-lose situation when they travel to NRG Stadium in Week 17 to take on the Houston Texans.
If the Titans win, they will hurt the Texans’ playoff chances. Going into this game, Houston sits in third place in the AFC South but has the same record as the two teams in front of it, and the Texans are one spot out of the wild card.
If the Titans lose, they’ll help their draft positioning. At worst, Tennessee will stay put in the No. 7 spot should Houston win, but they could also move up, which will help put them in position to land a franchise left tackle.
At this point, sticking it to a division rival takes a back seat to this team being in position to land a blue-chip prospect come April, but at least there will be some shred of enjoyment if the Titans win what is ultimately a meaningless contest for them.
Sportsbooks have the Texans favored for this contest and experts who think the Titans can win are few and far between. Let’s see what our staff thinks will happen when Tennessee and Houston meet on Sunday afternoon.
Our records
Mike Moraitis: 5-10
Shaun Calderon: 4-11
Shaun and Mike both correctly predicted the outcome of last week’s game, but that doesn’t change the fact both have had a terrible season picking games.
Shaun's prediction
This is just a gut feeling, but I think the Titans are going to play one of their best games of the season on Sunday.
Mike Vrabel clearly still has this team playing hard, and I think Derrick Henry is motivated to bounce back from his horrendous outing in Week 15. Also, I believe Will Levis will end up having a great day in his own right.
In the end, I think it’s a close game, but Levis and Co. ultimately find a way to throw a massive wrench into the Texans’ playoff hopes.
Final score prediction: Titans 27, Texans 24
Mike's prediction
The Titans’ offensive line might catch a major break in this one. Houston’s top pass-rusher, Jonathan Greenard, has been ruled out, and both Will Anderson and Maliek Collins are questionable.
Greenard’s absence in and of itself is huge and will allow the Titans’ passing attack to get off the ground, something it couldn’t do in the Week 15 game when Houston sacked Will Levis seven times. Greenard and Collins combined for four of those sacks.
That said, nothing is guaranteed with this offensive line, which was also terrible in run-blocking the last time these teams met.
We’ll see a much better performance from Tennessee’s offense in this game, but the short-handed defense won’t hold up its end of the bargain and will get burnt by a returning C.J. Stroud and running back Devin Singletary, who was the driving force of Houston’s offense a few weeks ago.
The Titans give the Texans all they can handle, but the result is yet another tough loss for Tennessee.
Final score prediction: Texans 31, Titans 27
