Texans blow out Titans 38-14

Written by Andrew Strickert on Sunday, 30 September 2012 21:42.

The Houston Texans' 38-14 defeat of the Tennessee Titans was not a fun game to watch for two-tone blue fans. The Texans scored two early touchdowns and cruised from there.

The Titans never really had a chance, which is evident from a few key statistics.

The Titans lost the turnover battle, with three to the Texans' none. Two of the three Titans turnovers were pick-sixes.

As expected, they lost time of possession, 27:34 to 32:26. Going into the game, the Texans led the league and the Titans were last in the league. The only surprise here was that the margin was only 5 minutes.

The Titans were penalized 7 times for 73 yards to Houston's 1 for 3 yards. David Stewart and Tommie Campbell didn't look good.

As has become the norm again, the Titans couldn't cover any tight ends, not even backups. Two Texans tight ends combined for 11 catches, 108 yards and 2 TDs.

Also, as has become a norm, the Titans had little to no pass rush.

In more bad news, Jake Locker dislocated his shoulder and will have an MRI on Monday. Fortunately, there's not much of a dropoff with Matt Hasselbeck, if at all.

If there's any good news, anything at all encouraging to come out of this debacle, it was the running game. This was a totally unexpected and pleasant surprise. The line did a better job of blocking and Chris Johnson ran with some determination and actually went north-south more often than his usual east-west.

CJ went over the 100-yard mark for the first time this year, gaining 141 yards on 25 carries, a very respectable 5.64 yards per attempt. CJ has now surpassed Locker as the team's leading rusher!

Up next are the Minnesota Vikings. They have been the doormat in the NFC North the last two seasons but now lead their division with a 3-1 record after knocking off the Detroit Lions 20-13 on the road Sunday. The improved Vikes have already equaled their win total from last year and should be favored at home against the Titans.

We knew the early schedule would be tough. It appears that winning the division or making the playoffs now seem highly improbable, though that's probably something only the most optimistic fans expected going into the season.

2 comments

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dragak1981

That game was ugly....I disagree that going to Matt Hasselback is not much of a drop off...he was a big drop off today. two pick sixes on bad throws...a bad fumble and he just does not have the arm strength. Locker is the much better option at this point in Hasselback's career.

The TE stuff is getting nauseating. It must be scheme because these guys are simply finding holes in the zone. Why not match up man to man. I thought Zach Brown was going to be the guy to lock down TEs with his speed.

Pass rush was non-existent as well...what has happened to Karl Klug...it is starting to look like last year may have been an aberration. Wimbley has not provided much of any rush. Morgan is still MIA in the pass rush department. Bringing Keith Millard in seems to not have helped. I don't understand, if they get no pressure rushing only 4, they need to bring blitzes, if even just one more pass rusher. Pressure on the QB is worth much more than having one more player floating around in the zone coverage. QBs pick apart zone coverage all day.

It is frustrating...thoughts?

Andrew Strickert moderator

@dragak1981 Frustrating, indeed.

Re Hasselbeck, he certainly didn't have a good game yesterday but he was the team MVP a year ago, which is why I don't consider him to be a drop off. He didn't throw an accurate pass on the first pick-six - I missed the second one, so can't comment on it.

One thing about the lack of defense against the TEs is that the Titans continuously give them a free release off the line and let them run unchallenged downfield. Frank Wycheck has said several times in the last couple of years that the Titans need to put a body on them at the line and try to at least throw off the timing of their routes if not redirect them - Wycheck said that's what gave him the most trouble when he played. That's something Ayers could do if he was asked to, but he's not asked to do that very often.

Unfortunately, he's not being asked to rush the passer much either, which he's also good at - better than Wimbley or Morgan, IMO. Re Klug, I haven't noticed him on the field as frequently as last year, but that's just a general observation - I'll have to check the snap counts from Tom's weekly list. Re Millard, it seems like he's being asked to make chicken salad out of chicken****, to use an old saying.

I agree with you about blitzing - I'd like to see more of it, particularly from Ayers when he won't be jamming a TE on the line. Seems like Gray is afraid to blitz leaving his guys in man to man.

Like you said, it's all very frustrating. All four teams we've played have lit up the scoreboard and three of them weren't trying that hard. I'd like to see the D play better and give us a chance to win in the fourth quarter. I'd like to see us at least be more competitive.

Dragak, thanks for reading and taking the time to comment.

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