Tennessee Titans at Houston Texans Preview

By Chuck Bednar | Saturday, October 08, 2005 | ( 0 )

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Sunday's 1:00pm game at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas is a must-win game of a different sort. The Houston Texans, 0-3 on the season, will host the 1-3 Tennessee Titans in a game that, well, somebody must win. Right?

Neither team has performed up to expectations this season. Houston opened this season with a 22-7 Week 1 loss to Buffalo and were handed a 27-7 Week 2 by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Last week, the held their own against the undefeated Cincinnati Bengals, losing 16-10 in a game that many felt they should have at least had a chance to win. After the Bengals broke a 10-10 tie with a Shayne Graham field goal, QB David Carr and the Houston Texans offense took the field with less than five minutes to go. On the drive, however, Carr was hit and appeared to fumble. The ball was recovered by Cincinnati, and although replay made it look as though it was an incomplete pass, the call was not overturned. Graham added another field goal, and Houston was unable to recover. That said, Carr was still sacked seven times on the afternoon, and the Texans could only manage 254 yards of total offense under new offensive coordinator Joe Pendry.

Life wasn't much better for the Tennessee Titans last week, who were blown out at home, 31-10, by the Indianapolis Colts. In the game, Indy QB Peyton Manning completed 20 of 27 pass attempts for 264 yards and four touchdowns. Obviously, things will improve this week as they welcome a Houston offense that has averaged just 87 passing yards, 198 total yards and 8 points per game. Meanwhile, the Texans defense has surrendered an average of 230 passing yards during their three contests in 2005. That's got to be music to Titans QB Steve McNair's ears, as he looks to improve upon his 213 yards per game and five touchdowns to four interception ratio. Also watch for more of RB Jarrett Payton, who ran four times for 37 yards in his first action of the season last week. Given more carries, he could easily fill the void created by RB Travis Henry's suspension.

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