The Houston Texans appear to be treating their season finale as a meaningless game. Deshaun Watson and DeAndre Hopkins aren’t expected to play. Several other starters and key contributors will likely join them.
If the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Los Angeles Chargers at noon, Houston will lock into the AFC’s fourth seed.
However, for the Tennessee Titans, it’s anything but a meaningless game. They need to win to get into the postseason. If not, their road to a playoff berth gets that much more complicated.
So how will the Texans play spoiler to the Titans’ playoff hopes if they don’t have starters in? Players and coaches will tell you how.
Romeo Crennel: Tight coverage to limit Ryan Tannehill
The Titans have lost two in a row, including one to the Texans. However, Ryan Tannehill remains red hot, playing the part of one the NFL’s best quarterbacks since taking over for Marcus Mariota full-time.
Under Tannehill, Tennessee is 6-3. He has tossed for 2,544 yards, 20 touchdowns and six interceptions on a 70.7% completion rate. His 116.5 passer rating leads the league.
So how are the Texans going to limit him? Tight coverage, as they did in Week 15.
“Well, I think that if you can take away some of the big plays and make him have to execute when guys are tight in coverage – we were tighter in coverage than maybe we had been other games,” defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel said on Thursday.
In Week 15, the Texans limited Tannehill to his worst game since Week 10, as he went 22 of 36 for 279 yards, two touchdowns and an interception on a 61.11% completion rate, good for a 92.2 passer rating, equating to his second-worst game as a starter in 2019.
Deshaun Watson: React to new things
Barring an injury to A.J. McCarron, Deshaun Watson won’t play on Sunday. However, he still has advice for his team that will face the Titans for the second time in three weeks: adjust to whatever new thing Tennessee hits them with.
“The biggest thing is really just trying to react to the new things,” Watson said on Thursday. “You can’t really pick out – especially playing them in a two-week span – pick out the new things that they’re going to do. You just kind of see out there and watch the film on what they did last time and what they did in previous weeks and even last week against the Saints, and then see if it’s the same thing but a different look. That’s the biggest thing, so as long as we’re all on the same page and we’re doing the right things and seeing it through the same set of eyes, we’ll be just fine.”
If the Texans can adjust to whatever new things the Titans throw at them, they may find themselves restricting their divisional rivals from visiting the postseason.
Romeo Crennel: Somehow, shut down A.J. Brown
A.J. Brown is a difference-maker. Bill O’Brien calls the Tennessee Titan the NFL’s best rookie receiver for a reason. He’s strong, fast, precise with his route-running and has the hands to make for a big catch radius. That has culminated in an outstanding Offensive Rookie of the Year-type season.
“Well, he’s pretty good,” defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel said on Thursday. “He’s got some size, got some speed and he can run for a touchdown. If you don’t cover him, you give him opportunities to make big plays. Some of his big plays come on play-action passes where the linebackers get sucked up and then boom, there’s an opening, and he hits that opening and then he kicks it into that extra gear that he has and it turns into a really big play.”
Crennel stresses that Houston must try to find a way to limit his playmaking abilities to keep the Titans out of the postseason.
“We have to do a good job of trying to get back in coverage and then rally to the ball and not let him run for touchdowns and big plays,” Crennel said.
On the season, the 22-year-old has 48 receptions for 927 yards and seven touchdowns.
Bill O’Brien: Adjust to the loss of Will Fuller
The Texans will be without Will Fuller on Sunday. He likely won’t return if Houston were to lose in the first round of the playoffs. Coach Bill O’Brien calls for the Texans to adjust to the loss of the speed merchant fourth-year wideout.
“It’s definitely an adjustment,” O’Brien said on Monday. “Fuller, when he went out, it just it is what it is. Everybody deals with these types of adjustments. I think for us, we know what we need to do. We need to execute a lot more consistently on offense and we need to make sure that everybody is ready to play on gameday.”
Kenny Stills is the likely option to fill-in for Fuller against the Titans. However, with DeAndre Hopkins likely out due to rest reasons, Stills may be the No. 1 option. That means DeAndre Carter, Keke Coutee and Steven Mitchell will attempt to fill the void.
