The Houston Texans' 38-14 defeat of the Tennessee Titans was not a fun game to watch for two-tone blue fans. The Texans scored two early touchdowns and cruised from there.
The Titans never really had a chance, which is evident from a few key statistics.
The Titans lost the turnover battle, with three to the Texans' none. Two of the three Titans turnovers were pick-sixes.
As expected, they lost time of possession, 27:34 to 32:26. Going into the game, the Texans led the league and the Titans were last in the league. The only surprise here was that the margin was only 5 minutes.
The Titans were penalized 7 times for 73 yards to Houston's 1 for 3 yards. David Stewart and Tommie Campbell didn't look good.
As has become the norm again, the Titans couldn't cover any tight ends, not even backups. Two Texans tight ends combined for 11 catches, 108 yards and 2 TDs.
Also, as has become a norm, the Titans had little to no pass rush.
In more bad news, Jake Locker dislocated his shoulder and will have an MRI on Monday. Fortunately, there's not much of a dropoff with Matt Hasselbeck, if at all.
If there's any good news, anything at all encouraging to come out of this debacle, it was the running game. This was a totally unexpected and pleasant surprise. The line did a better job of blocking and Chris Johnson ran with some determination and actually went north-south more often than his usual east-west.
CJ went over the 100-yard mark for the first time this year, gaining 141 yards on 25 carries, a very respectable 5.64 yards per attempt. CJ has now surpassed Locker as the team's leading rusher!
Up next are the Minnesota Vikings. They have been the doormat in the NFC North the last two seasons but now lead their division with a 3-1 record after knocking off the Detroit Lions 20-13 on the road Sunday. The improved Vikes have already equaled their win total from last year and should be favored at home against the Titans.
We knew the early schedule would be tough. It appears that winning the division or making the playoffs now seem highly improbable, though that's probably something only the most optimistic fans expected going into the season.
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