Tennessee Titans vs Houston Texans Matchup Preview (1/9/22): Betting Odds, Depth Charts, Live Stream (Watch Online)

Tennessee Titans vs Houston Texans Matchup Preview (1/9/22)

The Tennessee Titans travel to Houston this weekend with a chance to lock up the number 1 overall seed in the AFC with a win against the Texans. The Titans come into the weekend off back-to-back wins against the 49ers and Dolphins, while the Texans come in off a loss to the 49ers following back-to-back wins against the Jaguars and Chargers. Derrick Henry has officially been moved off the IR and is back to practicing with the team. He is listed as “Out” for Sunday’s game and likely won’t return until the playoffs. The Texans and Titans met earlier this season on November 21st with the Texans pulling out the victory 22-13 in Nashville. Tennessee leads the all-time series between the two teams 21-18, though the Texans have won 9 of the last 15.

Tennessee Titans vs Houston Texans Betting Odds

Betting Trends

Titans are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 vs. AFC South
Titans are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games following a ATS win
Titans are 7-20-1 ATS in their last 28 road games vs. a team with a losing home record
Texans are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 vs. AFC South
Texans are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games following a straight up loss of more than 14 points
Texans are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 home games vs. a team with a winning road record

The Pick

Tennessee’s going to win this game but not because they’re the team that wants it more. There’s no statistical evidence that suggests teams that have something to play for late in the season fare any better in these games than teams that have nothing to play for. If anything, the opposite is true. I think Tennessee will win, however, because they’re the better team. I think it’s really hard for a team with an inferior roster to sweep a division rival, especially when there is such a mismatch in the trenches. This Tennessee defense has really come alive as of late, locking teams down in the red zone. Their greatest weakness has been their secondary, and I don’t think rookie QB Davis Mills is quite good enough to exploit it for all it’s worth. I like Tennessee to get on the board early and hold Houston under 2 touchdowns. I do think it’ll be low scoring, which signals a likely Houston cover on a 10 point spread. Big underdogs in the last week of the regular season have had success ATS.

My Prediction: Titans win 17-10, Texans cover (+10 and the under hits (u42.5)

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TV Schedule

Date: Sunday, January, 9
Time: 1:00 PM ET
Location: NRG Stadium — Houston, TX
TV Coverage: CBS

Tennessee Titans vs Houston Texans Live Stream

Where can you watch Titans vs Texans online? You can stream this game, and many other NFL games live online with Hulu. Hulu has a 7 Day free trial and is cheaper than cable options at $5.99/month. Watch Titans vs Texans Free Online Now.

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Injuries

Tennessee Titans: RB Derrick Henry (Foot) O, WR Julio Jones (Hamstring) Q, G Roger Saffold III (Shoulder) Q, C Ben Jones (Knee) Q, CB Jackrabbit Jenkins (Ankle) Q, DB Caleb Farley (Knee(ACL)) O, TE Kano Dillon (Undisclosed) Q, WR Marcus Johnson (Hamstring) O
Houston Texans: OT Laremy Tunsil (Thumb) O, SS Justin Reid (Ankle/COVID-19), OL Marcus Cannon (Back) O, DE Jonathan Greenard (Shoulder) Q, WR Phillip Dorsett II (Foot) O, WR Chris Conley (Knee) Q, OLB Kamu Grugier-Hill (Knee) Q

Tennessee Titans Analysis

The fact that Mike Vrabel isn’t the odds on favorite to win coach of the year right now isn’t surprising to me but I do think he should be. Despite missing the centerpiece of their team in Derrick Henry for much of the latter half of the season and having easily the worst quarterback of any division leader in the AFC, the Titans sit just one win away from the number one seed. They’ve played their best against good opponents, beating the Bills, Chiefs, and Rams, and have won three of their last four games.

Even without Derrick Henry in the lineup, the Titans like to run the ball. They lead the NFL with 32.4 rushing attempts per game and are third in the NFL in rushing yards per game at 142.5. They’re 12th in the league in yards per rush attempt at 4.4, and will likely improve upon this once Henry reenters the lineup for the playoffs. 38 percent of Tennessee’s first downs this year have come from run plays, fifth in the league, and they’re second in the league in rushing touchdowns. Tennessee’s passing attacks ranks 27th, averaging 196.1 yards a game.

On defense, the Titans are 10th in the NFL with 41 sacks and 12th in the NFL in sack percentage at 6.45 percent. They rank 6th in scoring defense, allowing only 20.6 points per game, and are second to only the Saints over the last three games in PPG. Harold Landry II is having his best year as a pro and may be one of the most underrated players in the NFL. He leads the team with 12 sacks and 71 tackles on the season.

Tennessee Titans Depth Chart

QB: Ryan Tannehill
RB1: D’Onta Foreman
RB2: Dontrell Hilliard
RB3: Jeremy McNichols
WR1: Nick Westbrook-Ikhine
WR2: AJ Brown
WR3: Chester Rogers
TE1: Geoff Swaim

Houston Texans Analysis

Is Davis Mills a better rookie QB than Trevor Lawrence? Probably not but it is an interesting question. How much better is Houston’s roster than Jacksonville’s? The Texans rank last in the NFL in total offense, averaging 273.4 yards a game. They have the 3rd worst passing offense at 188.5 yards a game and the worst rushing offense at 84.9 yards a game.

Brandin Cooks has been the go-to in the passing game as he leads the team with over 1,000 receiving yards. No other receiver on the team has over 400 yards. They have the 28th ranked red zone offense, scoring touchdowns on 51.43 percent of red zone drives, and rank 27th in the NFL in yards per point. Houston has had their most success moving the ball this year against teams with poor run defenses. If they can get something going on the ground, this offense opens up a little bit. Otherwise, the offensive line struggles to effectively pass block and things can get ugly.

Defensively the Texans are led by DE Jonathan Grenard (8 sacks) and OLB Kamu Grugier-Hill (101 tackles), both of whom are listed as questionable heading into Sunday’s game. They have the worst rushing defense in the NFL, allowing 143.4 yards a game, and the 21st ranked passing defense at 239.8 yards a game. They allow touchdowns on 59.68 percent of opponent red zone drives, 17th in the league, and are 22nd in opponent yards per point.

Houston Texans Depth Chart

QB: Davis Mills
RB1: Rex Burkhead
RB2: Royce Freeman
RB3: Jaylen Samuels
WR1: Chris Conley
WR2: Brandin Cooks
WR3: Nico Collins
TE1: Brevin Jordan

Tennessee Titans vs Houston Texans Daily Fantasy Pick

I like Houston WR Nico Collins to have a big game. Tennessee’s secondary has been relatively pedestrian all season, allowing 242.5 yards a game, and Davis Mills has improved over the last 6 weeks. Houston has struggled to run the ball all season, and Tennessee is better at defending the run either way so the Texans are going to have to throw the ball to have success on offense. The Tennessee defense is going to give Cooks a lot of attention, opening up the door for Collins. The WR is currently listed at $3,900 on DraftKings and $5,100 on FanDuel.

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Patrick started covering the sports betting scene in March of 2021 as a member of the Loyola Phoenix. Since then, his industry analysis has been featured on websites such as Lineups.com and Daily Fantasy Cafe, where he has focused primarily on the NFL and individual state launches. As the current Assistant Site Runner of Lineups.com, Patrick aims to give more people access to information that may offer some insight into why teams build the way they do and what that means for any given matchup.

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