Houston Texans vs. Tennessee Titans Preview and Predictions 12-15-2019

The Tennessee Titans went from 2-4 to a tie at the top of the AFC South and are winners of four straight games, but their toughest tests remain. The Titans will try to keep the win streak alive when they host the Houston Texans on Sunday - the first of two meetings between the division rivals over the last three weeks of the regular season.

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Tennessee, which sandwiches a game against NFC South-leading New Orleans in between the matchups with Houston, is averaging 37.5 points during the four-game winning streak and is 6-1 since turning to Ryan Tannehill as the starting quarterback. "It needs to be loud, it needs to be packed, it needs to be filled," running back Derrick Henry told reporters of the stadium in Nashville this week. "We know at the beginning of the season it was kind of rough as we tried to find our identity. But we got this thing rolling and we need our fans to back us up. It's a big game, versus a division opponent, so we hope everybody is there and we hope it is loud." Houston had first place in the South all to itself before a disappointing 38-24 home loss to the Denver Broncos last week and has a date at Tampa Bay in Week 16 before hosting the Titans in the finale. "Obviously, we're trying to clinch this playoff berth and have some postseason games, so we just have to move on to the next and not let this happen again," cornerback Johnathan Joseph told reporters after last week's setback.

TV: 1 p.m. ET, CBS. LINE: Titans -3 O/U: 51

ABOUT THE TEXANS (8-5): Houston was coming off a 28-22 victory over New England when it came out flat against the Broncos and fell into a 21-0 hole less than 19 minutes into the game. "We're not consistent," Texans coach Bill O'Brien told reporters. "I feel like we have a ton of consistent people on the coaching staff and on the team, but we don't play consistently. We have more wins than losses this year, but I think that's a fair criticism of this team. ... That's a reflection of the head coach. We've got to get the team to play more consistently." Houston was down 38-3 in the third quarter before Deshaun Watson threw a touchdown pass and ran for two more, pushing his total to 31 TDs on the season.

ABOUT THE TITANS (8-5): Tannehill can become a free agent after this season and is putting up record-setting numbers since getting a chance to open up the offense in Tennessee. Tannehill is the second quarterback in NFL history (Aaron Rodgers, 2011) to produce a passer rating of 130 or higher while completing at least 75 percent of his passes in three straight games and joined Russell Wilson (2015) as the only QBs with at least two passing TDs and a passer rating of 125 in at least four consecutive contests, but is consistently being asked about his future. "I think we are always talking about personnel and the roster, and I think what Ryan has done has been fantastic," Tennessee coach Mike Vrabel told reporters. "We're going to focus on this week, and we'll focus on decisions on the roster in the offseason. But Ryan is going to be our quarterback this week, and (he needs to) just continue to improve and we'll try and help him prepare and perform."

EXTRA POINTS

1. Texans WR Will Fuller V (hamstring) sat out last week and is questionable for Sunday.

2. Henry suffered a hamstring injury in last week's win but is probable for Sunday.

3. The home team took each of the last six meetings.