Considering what some other teams in the NFL have accomplished to this point, the Houston Texans are being overlooked. But they currently have the longest winning streak in the AFC and the second longest in the league at seven in a row. They’ve won shootouts and prevailed in a few low-scoring affairs. And they’ve been blessed with some good luck during the run. It all amounts to a two-game lead over the Tennessee Titans and Indianapolis Colts in the AFC South, a season after winning four games and holding down the basement. The Texans will attempt to separate themselves from Tennessee when the two battle in the Week 12 Monday Night Football matchup.
Watch this Week 12 regular season matchup live on Monday, November 26, 2018, at 8:15 p.m. ET at NRG Stadium.
Opening NFL Odds at BookMaker.eu
Tennessee Titans +6
Houston Texans -6
Over/Under 41.5
Can the Texans be taken seriously? They are riding a seven-game winning streak heading into their AFC South showdown with the Titans and have a firm grip on the division lead. But those three losses to open the season still haunt them. They were tough in a loss at New England, but they dropped games to these same Titans and to the Giants, both as the favored team, before rattling off their win streak.
The Titans have been riding a roller coaster all year. Three straight wins followed by three losses followed by a pair of victories over the Cowboys and Patriots as an underdog. The Titans started riding into a valley after last week’s loss to Indianapolis where Marcus Mariota was knocked out of the game before halftime and defensive coordinator Dean Pees was taken to a local hospital for evaluation after experiencing a medical episode.
Mariota played his best football of the season in wins over Dallas and New England, completing 70 percent of his passes for 468 yards and four touchdowns without a pick. However, he struggled in the early going against the Colts and couldn’t get anything going before heading to the locker room to be evaluated for what turned out to be a stinger. The Titans are hopeful Mariota can play on Monday night. If he can’t go, Blaine Gabbert will get the start.
Gabbert hadn’t played since a Week 3 relief stint against the Eagles and he completed 11 of 16 for 118 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Gabbert filled in for Mariota in Week 2 and led Tennessee to a victory over the Titans with an efficient if not spectacular outing. He was 13 of 20 for 117 yards with a TD in that game. More importantly he didn’t turn the ball over.
The Titans are not a passing team despite having the former Heisman winner along with superstar-to-be Corey Davis. They average just over 183 yards passing per game to rank 30th in the league. We haven’t seen the offensive genius of Matt LaFleur and the constant injury concerns of Mariota have had something to do with that. The Titans have reverted to running the football behind Derrick Henry and Dion Lewis so it would be wise to fade Mariota on any passing game props at BookMaker.eu.
Instead, look at the numbers for Lewis, who has taken over as the lead back. He tops the team in rushing and is a threat out of the backfield on screens and flat routes. And those are plays that will be a big part of the offense against Houston’s defense. Lewis had a stretch of two games recently where he amassed more than 120 total yards in each and he’s averaging 19 touches over the last four games.
Houston won’t get hoodwinked this time around and the Texans will be watching for any tricks that might come their way. The Titans played the first game without Mariota and three starting offensive linemen, so they got creative with a number of wildcat formations and a game-changing fake punt that resulted in a touchdown. Outside of a few big plays, the Texans did a number defensively. I expect to see more of the same from them on Monday night, keeping the Titans below their scoring and total yardage totals on a prop bet at BookMaker.eu.
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