Happy New Year, everybody.
The inactives are out for today’s regular season finale at Reliant Stadium in Houston, and here they are.
HOUSTON TEXANS: G Mike Brisel, TE Owen Daniels, RB Arian Foster, QB Jeff Garcia, CB Johnathan Joseph, CB Sherrick McManis, FS Troy Nolan
TENNESSEE TITANS: FB Quinn Johnson, DE Jason Jones, C Kevin Matthews, LB Gerald McRath, QB Rusty Smith, DT Shaun Smith, OT Byron Stingily
Well, apparently Gary Kubiak’s definition of playing the game like he’ll be trying to win includes benching several starters. As expected, WR Andre Johnson is active, but is expected to play only a limited number of snaps. Beyond him, Kubiak surprisingly elected to sit Foster, Daniels, and Joseph. Ben Tate starts at RB, Joel Dreessen at TE, and Jason Allen at CB. The corner pairing of Allen and Kareem Jackson is one the Titans can probably have success attacking.
For the Titans, the only real surprise on the inactive list is Shaun Smith out and Zach Clayton in for only the third time all year. I’ll have more to say about Smith, in the context of DC Jerry Gray, hopefully later this week.
One thing to keep in mind for today’s game is the Meineke Car Car Bowl of Texas was played at Reliant Stadium yesterday afternoon, so there’s a very good chance chunks of turf will not be very good. The plan was to replace some of it before today’s game, so some of it will be fresh but unrooted. Pats WR Wes Welker blew out his ACL Week 17 a couple years ago at Reliant, which may have just been bad luck, but Kubiak’s not taking any chances.
Feel free to leave your comments here during today’s game or yap with me on twitter. I’ll be back after today’s game is over with a recap. Remember the other game to keep an eye on is Jets-Dolphins, and the playoff scenarios for the Titans are easier with a Jets win, but the Titans can’t be eliminated with any result. What can eliminate them early is a win. Win first, scoreboard watch later.
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