Tennessee Titans beat the Houston Texans: recap

The Bright Side

The Titans won. After a long losing streak at home and a tough year, the Titans can look back on the final week of the season and see that some of the pieces are definitely there.

The linebacking group showed flashes despite having every reason to mail this game in. Not only were the linebackers good, but the defense as a whole did well. The defensive line forced the ball out of Matt Schaub's hands quickly and led to some bad throws, even without their star DT. The secondary had a big day, where Michael Griffin was an enforcer in the running game, and Bernard Pollard got to show off his range.

The special teams looked exceptional, especially Brett Kern who nailed six kicks inside the 20 yard line. Taylor Thompson also laid a heavy hit on a would-be tackler on a nice kick return.

The offense wasn't great but every phase contributed a little bit. Chris Johnson had his second best day of the year tallying 127 yards and a TD. CJ also broke the 1,000 yard barrier continuing his six year streak. Not a bad performance to go out on if this was indeed his swan song with Tennessee.

Through the air, Kendall Wright and Nate Washington continued to show how much this team could do if they had a competent quarterback. Justin Hunter was bugged by an arm injury, but the main reason for his lack of production was terrible QB play. Most of Fitzpatrick's 166 passing yards came after the catch, and he really missed some big opportunities.

The Not-So-Bright Side

This was a game NO Titans fan should have wanted Houston to lose. Not only did a Titans win cost Tennessee valuable draft position, but it secured the Texans grabbing the top spot in the NFL Draft.

Another way this could really bite the Titans, is that this means that Munchak is now 2-1 in his last three starts (since he has been essentially on probation) and his only loss came in overtime to a good Arizona team. Mike Munchak should NOT BE THE HEAD COACH NEXT YEAR, but it looks like he will have a strong case for himself if Tommie Smith only looks at those last three games.

The Titans finish the year 7-9 and will likely be forced into drafting in the teens after the win against Houston, costing them a top-10 pick.