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Edgar Chaput
Titans vs. Texans Point Spread: NFL Week 17 Odds, Prediction
The season is lost for Mike Vrabel’s Titans squad, but they can still produce holiday jeers for the Texans fanbase if they find a way to defeat Houston in Week 17. The latter are fighting as best they can to earn a playoff berth and maybe even the AFC South title. Of course, the big question surrounding this contest is Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud, who technically is in concussion protocol as of December 27.
For now, the NFL odds have Houston as a -4.5 favourite.
NFL Point Spread and Betting Analysis
This is the second time in three weeks these division rivals march into battle. In Week 15 it was the Texans who snatched a victory, 19-16 in overtime. Things looked dire in the second quarter as the Titans led 13-0 and Houston’s attack floundered with Case Keenum. Four field goals and one 3-yard TD pass to Noah Brown later, the Texans breathed a sigh of relief.
A Titans win this Sunday would make it the third successive campaign that these clubs split their head-to-head contests. Curiously, it’s been over three years since a home team has won a game. That was in October 2020 when the Titans defeated the Texans in front of their fans.
Describing the Titans is an odd exercise. They obviously aren’t very good given the 5-10 record, but they aren’t terrible either. They’ve at least mustered a 6-8-1 tally ATS. Offensively, save for running the ball (middle-of-the-pack ranking), Tennessee sits comfortably in the mid-20s league-wide, but until recently untested rookie Will Levis was QB.
In the Houston camp, the club rides or dies with C.J. Stroud. That in of itself is incredible given that Stroud is a rookie. It’s fair to argue that he participated in the awful 30-6 loss to the Jets a few weeks ago, but he’s also one of the reasons why the club is in a position to win the AFC South at all. Things have been a bit rocky versus the spread, as the club has failed to cover four times out of the last six matches, hence the 7-8 tally.
Tennessee Titans
Even by the start of last week’s match at home against the Seattle Seahawks, the Titans were playing mostly for pride. An opportunity to damper Seattle’s playoff hopes beckoned, however.
It also marked the return of veteran QB Ryan Tannehill, who missed several games due to injury. Unfortunately, the offence mostly looked like its typical self, gaining only 287 total yards. What’s more, RB Derrick Henry ran in for a score and threw another on one of those Titans trick plays they like to call. One wonders what this team would accomplish on the attack without his services.
On a day when the defence looked mostly solid, it couldn’t prevent the visitors from scoring the game-winning touchdown with less than a minute left, thus the 20-17 defeat. LB Azeez Al-Shaair had himself a ball, earning eight total tackles (four solo), two of which were for losses.
Houston Texans
In Week 16 the Houston Texans got one of the most unexpected experiences of the 2023 NFL season: the Joe Flacco-led Cleveland Browns juggernaut.
Whatever momentum was gained from the win over Tennessee quickly evaporated against the Browns at home. How the game would have played out with a healthy Stroud quarterbacking his side is the stuff of idle speculation. Under the current circumstances, it was a 36-7 buzz-sawing before Houston got some late scores to make the final look somewhat respectable. QB Davis Mills got the call. He wasn’t very good last year when he played and he wasn’t very good last week.
Houston only gave up three sacks and its defence picked off Flacco twice, but the offence was so inept it didn’t matter. Make the final 36-22 for the Browns. Get Stroud back on the field ASAP or this season is sunk.