1. Try the run. After a week off, it's now or never in regards to Chris Johnson. Chris Palmer will get him some major work early on to kick his tires. On Sunday, the Texans gave up over 100 yards to Ray Rice and have been giving up an average of 132 yards a game all season, fifth most in the NFL. I'll go ahead and say it: If Chris Johnson doesn't have a good week this week, I don't think he will have a good week all season. The fact is, if this team is going to get anywhere this year, they can't have the worst run game in the league. I would love to see some more from Jamie Harper in the second half if CJ isn't going anywhere.We're the worst rushing team in the league with CJ running, so what's to lose?
2. Watch the run. Let's be honest. Matt Schaub's great and all, but Andre Johnson was the heart of the Texans' receiving game. Their two top receivers now are Jacoby Jones and Kevin Walter. Hardly great. Schaub gets rolling when the run game is working, so the focus for Jerry Gray's defense has to be to shut down the run game. Arian Foster has been dinged up for most of the year, but when he gets rolling he can be very dangerous. Houston is ranked 20th in yards per carry, averaging just 4.0 yards, but still running the ball 187 times per game all season, second in the league only to the Raiders. The Titans have the NFL's 10th-ranked run defense, and opposing backs, including Ray Rice, Peyton Hillis, and Maurice Jones-Drew, are averaging just 3.8 yards a carry.
3. Keep Hasselbeck up. The Titans offensive line has been superb to this point in regards to giving Matt Hasselbeck his time, with a league-low seven sacks allowed and only 11.6% of pass attempts under duress. This week will probably present the tough challenge yet, as Wade Phillips has been relentless getting after the QB. Houston's defensive line is very underrated, even with Mario Williams out.