That was a terrible Titans team. I don't think it's that they have checked out either...Maybe as a team they have.. Some of the players were trying, they just suck and the Texans acted like they had something to play for so they sucked a bit less. Nate Washington had a couple of catches that earlier in the season would have been drops. Jaelen Strong almost made a Nuk type catch. He missed getting both feet in by a heel.
On offense they racked up another 100 yards + and won the turnover battle. Seems if you can do that you win. Another 200 from the air and it was an average statistical day. They're gonna have to be much better than average in the playoffs if they make it which it looks like they will. How about Ben Jones refusing to come out of the game just before halftime? That guy was hurting and could have walked off an no one would have said anything about it. I think it wound up that he didn't have to play another play but I also don't think he didn't know that at the time. Displaying that kind of toughness makes everyone around you a little bit tougher.
Kudos to Weeden and to BoB for giving him the green light. Maybe he is a QB whisperer after all but considering what his Ex QB's did yesterday I just don't know.
I don't think BoB minds taking shots downfield or Weeden wouldn't have been taking them after the first couple. It almost seemed as if BoB put Daniels in at those random times in order to be able to coach Weeden up during drives. I really hoped we had seen the last of the wildcat but if that was the intent, it worked and I'm OK with it. If it wasn't the intent, it probably should have been.
Speaking of ex QB's how about that coin flip and Fitz's pass to end the game. Dude just laid it out there for Decker to run under. It was improvised and that's what Fitz does too much of but it was a sweet pass. I think Fitz thinks he is smarter than the coaches too much of the time and maybe he is but you've got to stay with the called play. A lot of time that play call is setting something else up later. That seems to be what Fitz doesn't get. He's all about right now, this play.
Mallett played a strong game to beat Pittsburg and Kenum just keeps doing what he does. It may not be pretty but he wins. I'm not saying that I wish any of them were still here...just good for them.
Considering a shutout until garbage time I'd like to say the defense played a great game. I didn't really think they did though. They weren't dominating. Tennessee's receivers seemed to have an affliction to catching the ball when it mattered and Mettenberger looked like Mallett did here the way he was trying to force everything in at the last minute. Downfield passes weren't even close and he had some open receivers at times. The best play by far was Watt's sack fumble near the goal line to preserve the shut out for the time being.
Special teams...Can someone please do something other than just catch a punt? Mumphrey ran out of bounds on every return I think. Maybe there's no walls in front of him so...can someone please block on a punt return...legal blocks??? This continues to be the weakest part of their game and instead of changing anything it appears they just hope to field the ball cleanly and give it to the offense. Geez, at least try. Coverage is bad too. One of the best punters in the league and they can't cover for him. Way too many return yards given up on punts and I don't want to hear that he's out kicking his coverage. He can and sometimes does but more often than not the hang time is there to allow the gunners to get downfield. They get blocked though. So put some stronger, faster gunners out there. You need sure open field tacklers. I know Kareem Jackson is a starter but he's one of the best tacklers on the field. Put his ass out there.
Jacksonville has way more talent than the Titans but nothing really to play for so who knows which team will show up. It always seems like Jacksonville plays their best against the Texans.
The Texans need a win next week for a strong finish but a Cincinnati win tonight over Denver also clinches. Cincinnati still has to clinch a first round by and needs to beat Denver. Denver could go a long way to stealing that first round bye from Cincy with win tonight. Then a combination of Cincy losses and Denver wins next week affects several playoff positions including who the Texans play...I think. Carolina loosing to the Falcons didn't help with the Texans tiebreakers so root for Cincinnati to beat the Broncos AND for the Texans to beat Jacksonville. Denver still hasn't clinched the division although KC clinched a playoff spot so they have something big to play for. If Denver beats Cincy tonight the AFC West gets serious in week 17.
If the playoff started today the Texans would host KC in the first round but it's still pretty convoluted who will play when and where. KC plays a divisional game against Oakland next week. The Jets are still fighting for a spot and play Buffalo. It looks like losses to by either gives a window to the Steelers who play Baltimore.
Now I'm confused... This is exactly how the NFL wants every division to end the season. Perfect scenario would be for every team to be in it til week 17, all finish 8-8 and playoffs be decided by a coin flip.
So even if the Texans get in tonight the playoff picture will still be cloudy to an extent but out of their control. I think I'd prefer that the Texans got a second chance at KC over the Jets and I prefer either over having to play the Steelers.
I don't think anyone wants to see the Texans back into the playoffs but it might be nice if some of the starters got an extra week of rest before their playoff game. If Cincy wins tonight that's exactly what they could do. I don't think next week's game can change when they play or who they play in the first round.
