Titans Texans Line

Written by Steve Janus

The Tennessee Titans will try and keep their playoff hopes alive when they go on the road to face the Houston Texans in the final week of the regular season. The Titans not only need to win this week, but they need plenty of help from other teams to make it to playoffs. If Tennessee does have things fall their way, they will be back in Houston next week for first round action. The Texans will be looking to head into the postseason with a little bit of momentum. Houston has lost back-to-back games since clinching the AFC South with a win over Cincinnati in week 14. The Texans had no trouble beating the Titans back in week 7, as they rolled over Tennessee 41-7.

Taking a look at the week 17 NFL lines, oddsmakers currently have the Titans favored by 3-points over the Texans with the total set at 39.5 points.

Tennessee Titans:

First things first, the Titans need to beat the Texans and have Cincinnati lose to Baltimore to have any chance of making the playoffs. Tennessee will also need the Jets to beat the Dolphins and either the Raiders or Broncos to lose, or the Jets to lose at Miami and both Oakland and Denver to win.

While the Titans were able to hold on for a 23-17 win over the Jaguars at home last week, they have to be kicking themselves for their 13-27 loss to the Colts, who came into that game 0-13. Had the Titans won that game, they would simply need to beat the Texans to get into the playoffs.

In order for the Tennessee to get a win this week, they are going to need quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and running back Chris Johnson to step up their play.

Hasselbeck went 24 of 40 for 350 yards against Jacksonville, but finished with just one touchdown to two interceptions. The veteran quarterback has thrown just two touchdowns to seven interceptions over the last six games.

Johnson needs just 14 yards to eclipse the 1,000 yard mark, but overall it has been an extremely disappointing season. Johnson looked like he was starting to get on a roll with 343 yards in back-to-back games against the Buccaneers and Bills, but has totaled just 134 yards on 41 attempts over the last three weeks.

Neither player had a good game against the Texans earlier this season. Hasselbeck went 14 of 30 for 104 yards with two interceptions, while Johnson was held to 18 yards on 10 attempts. Houston hasn’t looked all that great defensively the last couple of weeks, but defensive coordinator Wade Philips is expected to return to the sidelines after missing the last two games.

Houston Texans:

While the Texans have the No. 3 spot in the AFC locked up, I think it is important for this team to get a win this week. I understand that this team has had to deal with a lot of injuries, but rarely will you see a team make a run in the playoffs after losing their final three games.

Offensively the Titans have really struggled to put up points since the loss of starting quarterback Matt Schaub. Rookie backup T.J. Yates has played better than expected, but the Titans haven’t scored more than 20 points in a game since putting up 37 against the Buccaneers back in week 10. Yates was an efficient 13 of 16 against the Colts, but threw for just 132 yards without a touchdown.

Most of the offense came from Pro Bowl running back Arian Foster, who piled on 158 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries. As much as the Titans want to get on the right track, I wouldn’t be surprised if backup Ben Tate didn’t get the majority of the carries in this game. Foster and Tate combined for 219 yards and two touchdowns against the Titans earlier this season. Tate had 104 yards on 15 carries.

One player that could really give the offense a spark is star wide out Andre Johnson, who is listed as questionable. Johnson has played in just six games all season, and has missed the last three games with a hamstring injury.

Betting Trends:

Tennessee is 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games as a favorite.

Houston is 16-5 ATS in their last 21 home games vs. a team with a winning road record.

Be sure to stop back and check out who Steve Janus has picked to win this week in the NFL.

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