In a crucial AFC South matchup, the Houston Texans took a commanding 20-3 lead over the Tennessee Titans by halftime. Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud led a 94-yard touchdown drive, capped by a 12-yard TD pass to tight end Brevin Jordan. The Texans' defense also scored on a strip sack returned for a touchdown, contributing to a 17-0 lead before kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn extended it with a 38-yard field goal. The Titans struggled offensively, with Derrick Henry held to just 11 yards on 5 carries and the team failing to convert on third down. Texans' left tackle Laremy Tunsil is questionable to return with a groin injury, and wide receiver Noah Brown is out with a hip injury. The Titans' quarterback Will Levis was replaced by Ryan Tannehill due to an injury. Additionally, a penalty on Titans' Caleb Murphy for running into the kicker gave the Texans a continued drive. Despite missing defensive starters Jonathan Greenard, Maliek Collins, and Jimmie Ward, the Texans' defense dominated the first half. In other games, the Colts led the Raiders 7-3, and the Jaguars were up 9-0 against the Panthers, with the Jaguars needing losses from the Colts and Texans to clinch the AFC South.
Titans 1H highlights: held Texans to a couple FG, forced a punt in 2-minute & got a FG of their own even after back-to-back sacks, 4&1 conversion, it's over.
Ryan Tannehill is 3-0 as a starter for the Titans at NRG Stadium. He came off the bench today to replace the injured Will Levis. Texans up 20-3.
Texans lead 20-3 at halftime. Texans have 197 yards to the Titans 79. Singletary has 9 carries for 45 yards. Stroud is 16 of 20 for 132 yards, 1 TD and a 110.8 rating. Titans are 0 for 6 on third down. Henry has 5 carries for 11 yards. Titans have 12 yards rushing.
Will Anderson vs. Andre Dillard #Titans https://t.co/6ypvparWPN
And that's the first half. And what a half it was. Panthers held to 33 yards and 1-of-7 on third down conversions, four sacks. I'll be back, there are corgi races at halftime.
Andre Dillard doing his best to get the Will Anderson Defensive Rookie of the Year campaign a late surge.
Folk from 53 yards is good. It's 20-3 Texans over the #Titans at the half
Oh give him 2! Andre Dillard man… https://t.co/1Fr3Es2hBW
Will Anderson gets to Tannehill for a 9 yard loss…points before half look daunting
Around the AFC South: The Colts are currently up 14-3 on the Raiders with 1:11 left in 1st half. The Jaguars are up 9-0 on the Panthers with 1 minute remaining in the 1st half.
Panthers with -2 net passing yards at the half. Feels bad! https://t.co/RcYWzMcz6l
At the two minute warning, Texans have 189 yards to the Titans 36. And the Texans are playing without defensive starters Jonathan Greenard, Maliek Collins and Jimmie Ward.
WR Noah Brown out with a hip injury. Players are falling for both teams.
On third and 2, Henry takes a direct snap and is thrown for a 2-yard loss by Stingley and Khalil Davis. Texans have the ball at their 32 after King's 20 punt return. There's 2:01 left in the first half.
#Titans punting after Derrick Henry in the Wildcat was stopped behind the line of scrimmage
No WR formation, Wildcat to Derrick Henry, minus-2. #Titans
Matt Gay's extra point makes it 14-3, Colts, with 3:53 remaining in the first half. https://t.co/5QYIdOrQOj
The @Raiders were playing with fire the whole first half. They were bound to get burned.
Another field goal in Jacksonville, as the Jaguars take a 9-0 lead on the Panthers.
Texans hurting in their lines as they have been since camp. Tunsil out at left tackle and replaced by Fant. That's four LTs this season, 4 LGs, 4 centers, 1 RG (Shaq Mason) and 3 RTs. Greenard and Collins missing from D line.
In his career with the Titans, Ryan Tannehill is 3-0 as a starter. He's come off the bench in place of the injured Will Levis. Texans leading 20-0 after Fairbairn's 38 FG with 4:17 left in the first half.
Texans add onto their lead after Ka'imi Fairbairn's 38-yard field goal. Texans lead Titans 20-0, with 4:17 left in Q2 Stroud is 14 of 18 for 123 yards and 1 TD.
Beathard hits open Agnew on deep route, beats Shaq Griffin on double move, for 49-yard pickup. Agnew hurt on play. 1st-and-goal at Carolina 7.
Shaquil Griffin, who got the start over CJ Henderson (and an injured Jaycee Horn), burned badly by Jamal Agnew for a 48-yard reception.
AFC South scoreboard: @colts still lead Raiders 7-3, @texans have extended lead to 17-0 over @titans.
LT Laremy Tunsil out with a groin injury. Levis out with a foot injury and replaced by Tannehill. Tunsil, the Texans best O linemen, has been nursing a knee issue for most of the season.
Texans LT Laremy Tunsil is questionable to return with a groin injury. George Fant is currently in at LT. https://t.co/G1SKf73Tf1
C.J. Stroud has TD pass, Texans get defensive score for 17-0 lead. https://t.co/7WdLqheS5e
Panthers hanging around here after forcing another Brandon McManus field goal. Jags up 6-0 midway through the 2Q.
That was a veteran move by Hughes to strip the ball first before going for the sack. Rankins, with the recovery, puts the Texans up 17-0. #Texans #Sarge #TexansWire
Strip sack for the touchdown and it's 17-0 @HoustonTexans! 📺: FOX https://t.co/BSHTSWb5bJ
Wow! Texans up 17-0: https://t.co/w0bBe0Frfg
Point after good. It has very quickly become 17-0 Texans.
It's now 17-0 Texans over #Titans
Levis sacked, fumbles. Texans pick up fumble and run it in for a touchdown. It's 16-0, pending a PAT #Titans
That touchdown drive of 94-yards and over 7 minutes is exactly what the Texans want to do if the Titans are going to take the explosive plays. Houston leads Tennessee 10-0 in the second quarter. #Texans #Sarge #TexansWire
Brevin Jordan finds the end zone and it's 10-0 @HoustonTexans! 📺: FOX https://t.co/Np48DC5dJG
That touchdown drive of 94-yards and over 7 minutes is exactly what the Texans want to do if the Titans are going to take the explosive plays away. Houston leads Tennessee 10-0 in the second quarter. #Texans #Sarge #TexansWire
Texans go 94 yards in 13 plays. Stroud throws a 12-yard TD Pass to TE Brevin Jordan. Texans lead 10-0. Stroud was 6 of 7 for 44 yards and a TD on the series. Singletary carried 4 times for 31 yards, including a 24-yard run.
AJ Cole with great coffin corner punt. Colts pinned back at own 6 for 2nd straight possession. End of 1Q: Colts 7, Raiders 3
Hard to see this #Titans' defense holding up well enough to win today. #Texans are up 10-0 after a strong drive covered 94 yards and found the end zone.
CJ Stroud finds Brevin Jordan, throwing across his body to get it there, for the touchdown. And the Texans are up 10-0 on Tennessee.
XP Good. 10-0 Texans lead. 13 plays, 94 yards after Caleb Murphy extends it for them.
C.J. Stroud finds Brevin Jordan for a 12-yard TD pass. Big-time drive by the Texans. Texans 10 Titans 0, 10:10 left in 2nd quarter
First quarter ends with Texans leading Titans 3-0. Texans have a first down at their 27. Stroud is 7 of 10 for 48 yards and a 80.4 rating.
End of 1st: #Texans 3 #Titans 0
Such an easily avoidable running into the kicker by Caleb Murphy. Instead, the Texans maintain possession. #Titans
Caleb Murphy running into the kicker for the #Titans, who keep making plays that get them beat. First down #Texans
Jaguars up 3-0 Colts up 7-3 Texans up 3-0 Jaguars need Colts, Texans losses to clinch AFC South today
End 1Q: #Jaguars lead 3-0, will have 3rd-and-4 at own 49 to start 2nd.
Nice break up by SMB. Titans get the Texans off the field on 3rd and 5
Nice breakup by @seanbunting_. Texans punting to #Titans
Texans force Titans to punt after Anderson pressures Levis into an incompletion. Texans take over at their 6 leading 3-0.
Will Anderson Jr. got pressure on Will Levis, forcing him to get that out quicker than he wanted to. Texans force the Titans to put it.
That's a win for Colts D. JuJu Brents breaks up third-and-9 pass. Raiders had converted third-and-8 and third-and-16. Carlson 40 FG. Colts 7, Raiders 3
Carlson 40-yard FG attempt is good...#Colts 7, #Raiders 3, 5:57 in 1st quarter
Colts are getting weird in the secondary. Ronnie Harrison and Nick Cross together on that third down, Rodney Thomas II on the sideline. Indy gets the stop. Colts 7, Raiders 3.
The @Raiders can't overcome the illegal procedure penalty and have to settle for a 40-yard FG from Daniel Carlson to cut the Colts lead to 7-3.
Texans go 58 yards in 13 plays on their first series. Fairbairn 28 FG gives them a 3-0 lead. They couldn't score after getting a first down at the Titans 10. Stround was 5 of 7 for 38 yards. Incompletions on his last 2 throws.
In Jacksonville, the Jaguars lead the Panthers 3-0, for those curious.
Methodical drive until the Texans got to the 10-yard line. #Titans shut them down in the red zone. So a 28-yard FG gives HOU a 3-0 lead.
Titans red zone defense continues to impress…Houston settling for a FG on an opening possession where they moved the ball down to the 20 with ease. 3-0 Houston lead.
It's 3-0 #Texans over #Titans
Impressive opening drive by Beathard, gets stalled on 3rd-down sack by Brian Burns. McManus 35-yd FG gives #Jaguars 3-0 lead, the first time they've led since 28-21 in fourth quarter against @bengals on Dec. 4.
Big sack from Brian Burns. Right after a clutch QB pressure the play before. Comes off the field a bit gimpy, though. That stops the Jaguars' first drive; Jacksonville settles for FG. 3-0, Jaguars lead the Panthers.
#Texans on the move, at the #Titans 10, first and goal
Brandon McManus makes a 35-yard field goal following the sack by Burns. Jaguars lead 3-0 to start the game. #Panthers
Brian Burns talked about not having a lot of opportunities in obvious passing situations. Got one there and came up with his seventh sack to force a Jags FG. 3-0.
Brian Burns sacks Jags QB CJ Beathard on third down, forces Jags to settle for a game-opening field goal. Jags 3-0.
This might be where I take a shot at the end zone. Good drive so far. Texans have it at the Titans 29 yard.
Easy touchdown drive for the @Colts - especially troubling was how they easily ran the ball against the @Raiders. It's 7-0 Colts
Just like that. Just like last week. Colts open with 6 plays, 75 yards, JT 5 TD.
Easy work for the Colts on the first drive as Jonathan Taylor strolls into the end zone from 5 yards out. Josh Downs' 50-yard reception the catalyst.
A scrambling Gardner Minshew gets it to Josh Downs for 50, Jonathan Taylor looks solid to start and Indy's got 1st-and-goal at the 5.
Huuuuge play between Gardner Minshew and Josh Downs on 3rd-and-5. Minshew steps up and finds Downs for 50 yards.
#Titans will get the ball first to start this game against the Texans. I'll do tweets and you can respond to those tweets or share them or even ignore them but nevertheless there will be tweets. Live blog for @Tennessean below. Let's football. https://t.co/mepuOKAYqM
#Titans get ball first vs #Texans, who won toss and deferred
The Texans win the toss and choose to defer. Texans will get ball to start 2nd half.
An additional thought: The Texans have to stop Derrick Henry again. The Titans are going to try and run it. The Texans haven't allowed a single rusher to run for more than 100 yards in a game this season. https://t.co/HaLCI8G9FR via @houstonchron
LET'S GO!!! #Texans vs #Titans NOON at NRG Stadium! Listen 📻📱🎙🔥🏈 On @SportsRadio610 @TheBullHouston 100.3FM @am1300thezone @ticket760 Texans App Audacy App https://t.co/gD72ge5cwH
It’s Gameday. 🏈 Six Things to Watch for the #Titans in today’s game at the @HoustonTexans. READ https://t.co/MHHEOJHvaf https://t.co/0LZLg13nzM
Helping out with #Texans game day coverage today as they host the #Titans for an AFC South matchup. Here’s some pregame reading: » From @jonmalexander: Texans insider: Eight thoughts ahead of Texans’ game vs. Titans https://t.co/lp9QxSWwXL » From @jonmalexander: For Texans,…
#Texans All Access on a #FootballFriday with @TexansVoice & @jharrisfootball starts NOW! ▫️Head Coach DeMeco Ryans joins the show NOW!🗣️ ▫️Keys to victory for the Texans as they welcome the Titans to H Town🤘 LISTEN: https://t.co/9FhHyXVzDE YOUTUBE: https://t.co/kVdwOjbFUH https://t.co/6FIIwoj3iD
McClain: 5 things to watch for Texans vs. Titans https://t.co/vE0IKshBUX via @SportsRadio610