Week 13: Houston at Tennessee

Maybe the movie will be better this week.

Houston and Tennessee players both had to cringe when looking at last week’s game film. With both of them in the wild card hunt, they each laid eggs – Tennessee got hammered 35-6 by Cincinnati, and Houston lost 27-17 to Cleveland.

The Titans, a first-half surprise at 6-2, are now a second-half flop. They have lost three straight and last week gave up three touchdowns to Cincinnati’s Chad Johnson in an embarrassing loss.

In Tennessee’s three losses, the Titans have been outscored 97-39. Tennessee DT Albert Haynesworth has missed the last three games with a strained right hamstring, which neatly coincides with the Titans’ losing streak and sudden inability to stop the rush. The Titans hope to get him back on the field this week.

Houston WR Andre Johnson missed the first meeting between these two – a 38-36 barnburner on Oct. 21 that Tennessee won when K Rob Bironas set an NFL record with eight field goals. Perhaps Johnson will help the Texans get over the hump in this one, for their offense has been nothing special lately.

Despite that, Texans’ offensive coordinator Mike Sherman, accepted the head-coaching job at Texas A&M Monday. The former Green Bay Packer head coach will pull double duty the rest of the season.

Houston had won two in a row before losing last week, when QB Matt Schaub was intercepted twice last week in the loss to the Browns. And Houston had more turnovers last week (three) than third-down conversions (a miserable two) against a defense that came in ranked last in the NFL. Houston keeps digging third-quarter holes – the Texans haven’t scored a third-quarter point since Week 2. That doesn’t say much for the coaches’ halftime adjustments.

Head coach Gary Kubiak second-guessed himself for not running RB Ron Dayne enough in the second half last Sunday. Expect Kubiak to stick with the run more this week, especially if Tennessee’s Haynesworth can’t go again. We can only hope for another 38-36 game, but those don’t come around too often. Expect more of the 20-17 variety.

Tennessee by 3