Houston (4-5) at Tennessee (1-8)
Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, FOX.
BetMGM NFL odds: Texans by 6 1/2.
Against the spread: Texans 4-5, Titans 3-6.
Series record: Titans lead 24-23.
Last meeting: Texans shut out Titans 26-0 in Houston on Sept. 28.
Last week: Texans beat Jaguars 36-29, Titans lost 27-20 to Chargers before bye.
Texans offense: overall (15), rush (22), pass (15), scoring (19).
Texans defense: overall (1), rush (2), pass (4), scoring (1).
Titans offense:
overall (32), rush (31), pass (31), scoring (32).
Titans defense: overall (25), rush (27), pass (17), scoring (30).
Turnover differential: Texans plus-6; Titans minus-3.
DE Danielle Hunter. The 10-year veteran was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week after piling up seven tackles, four tackles for loss and tying a career high with 3 1/2 sacks. He also had four quarterback hits and forced a fumble to help Houston rally from a 19-point fourth-quarter deficit for the win. This was Hunter's sixth time in his career with at least three sacks, tying him for the most such games in the NFL since he entered the league in 2015. He has a team-high 7 1/2 sacks this season and is second with eight tackles for loss. He had two sacks in the last game between these teams.
QB Cam Ward. He leads all rookie quarterbacks with 1,760 yards passing and has a TD pass in three of his last four games at home. But Ward is completing only 57.1% of his passes, and he has more interceptions (six) than touchdown passes (five). He also is the most sacked quarterback in the NFL even after the bye.
The Titans offense against the NFL's stingiest defense. The Titans have scored fewer touchdowns than their opponents for a span of 15 straight games and are last this season while scoring just 14.4 points a game. The Texans are allowing a league-low 16.7 points and 261.3 yards a game. Houston also shut out Tennessee the last time these teams met.
Texans: QB C.J. Stroud will miss a second straight game in the concussion protocol. ... OT Tytus Howard returned to practice this week after sitting out against Jacksonville recovering from a concussion. ... K Ka’imi Fairbairn (quadriceps) and S Jalen Pitre (concussion) also will miss a second consecutive game.
Titans: WR Calvin Ridley (hamstring) and OLB Arden Key (quadriceps) could be back. ... DT Jeffery Simmons (hamstring) might miss a third straight game and S Xavier Woods (hamstring) could miss a second consecutive game. ... TE Chig Okonkwo is limited by an injured foot, and RB Kalel Mullings (ankle) and S Mike Brown (knee) are trying to return from injured reserve.
The Titans hold a thin edge over the team that replaced them in Houston in 2002, and the Texans need only a win Sunday to even the all-time series at 24 apiece. The Texans will be trying for the sixth sweep in franchise history. They come to Nashville having won the last four on the Titans' home field in this rivalry.
Texans backup QB Davis Mills had 292 yards passing with two touchdown passes and a scoring run last week in his first start since 2022. ... RB Woody Marks led the team with 63 yards rushing last week. ... RB Nick Chubb has 202 yards rushing combined in two career games against Tennessee. ... WR Nico Collins had a season-high 136 yards receiving last week. ... TE Dalton Schultz had 53 yards receiving and his first TD reception of the season against Jacksonville. ... Rookie WR Jayden Higgins had his third touchdown reception of the season last week. ... LB Azeez Al-Shaair led the team with eight tackles last week. ... DE Will Anderson had a sack, a tackle for loss, a pass defensed and forced a fumble against the Jaguars. He has four sacks in three career games against the Titans. ... DT Sheldon Rankins returned a fumble 32 yards for a touchdown last week. ... CB Derek Stingley had his third interception of the season against the Jaguars. ... The Titans had a season-high six sacks in Week 9. ... Ward leads all rookies with 1,760 yards passing. ... WR Chimere Dike leads the NFL with 1,514 all-purpose yards. He had three punt returns for 98 yards and his first return touchdown of his career in his last game. He finished with 117 yards on four kick returns. ... WR Elic Ayomanor had a team-high 46 yards receiving in the last game. He's one of five rookies with two or more catches in nine straight games to start this season. ... DT Jeffery Simmons has a sack in three of his past four games. ... NT T'Vondre Sweat has had a sack in two of his past three games. ... LB Cody Barton had his first career interception return for a TD last week. He's one of four LBs in the NFL with three or more interceptions this season. ... LB Cedric Gray had his first career sack in the last game. ... LB Jihad Ward had a career-high 2 1/2 sacks in Week 9.
The Texans defense. Not only does Houston have 10 interceptions this season, the Texans are coming off their best game of the season with five sacks. They're going against a rookie quarterback in Ward who has been sacked a league-worst 38 times even coming off Tennessee's bye.
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