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The Texans have signed 34-year old safety Brian Russell. Russell played in 9 games for the Jaguars this season making 12 tackles. He has now played in 117 games in his NFL career and he has made 474 tackles, defensed 39 passes, has 3 sacks, forced 3 fumbles and he has 16 interceptions. Russell should be able to help the Texans out on special teams and give them depth at safety.
The Texans have lost 29-year old safety Eugene Wilson for the year due to a toe injury. Wilson played in 8 games for the Texans this season and he made 29 tackles, forced 1 fumble, defensed 3 passes and he had 2 interceptions. 23-year old Dominique Barber will get the first shot to replace him in the starting lineup. Barber has played in 8 games this season for the Texans and he has 19 tackles and 2 passes defensed. He has now played in 20 games in his two years in the NFL and he has 34 tackles, 3 passes defensed and he has 1 sack. Barber should be able to do a decent job for the Texans the rest of the way.
Matt Schaub had a big game for the Houston Texans (5-5), but it wasn’t enough for them to get the win agains the Tennessee Titans (4-6) on Monday night. Schaub had 305 passing yards and 2 touchdowns on 25/39 attempts for a QB rating of 105.2. Schaub and the Texans were able to get those 2 touchdowns in the first half, but would not reach the endzone the rest of the game. The running game did not give the Texans’ much, as they only got 57 total rushing yards as a team. The Titans made some defensive adjustments at halftime and Schaub and the Texans’ offense were not as effective because of it.
The Texans defense could not stop the Titans running game. Titans’ quarterback Vince Young makes it very difficult to contain their running game, as they run a lot of option type running plays and he has the athleticism to run it very well in the pro-game. Young rushed for 73 yards on 11 carries, while also having an explosive running back in Chris Johnson who rushed for 151 yards on 29 carries. With the Titans’ ability to run the ball it opened up the passing game for Young. He had 116 passing yards and a touchdown on 12/22 attempts. The Texans were not able to get any points in the fourth quarter, and all the Titans needed was a field goal to win it. Titans’ kicker Rob Bironas easily nailed a 53-yard field goal with 47 seconds left to lift the Titans over the Texans.
23-year old Steve Slaton was awesome as a rookie for the Texans last season as he played in all 16 games carrying the ball 268 times for 1,282 yards (4.8 ypc) with 9 TD carries. He also caught 50 passes for 377 yards (7.5 avg) with 1 TD grab this year. Slaton only fumbled the ball 3 times all of last season losing 2 of them. But, this season Slaton has had butter fingers as he has fumbled 7 times already this season losing 5 of them. Slaton also has not played too well in general. He has played in 9 games this season for the Texans and he has carried the ball 116 times for 359 yards (3.1 ypc) with 3 TD runs. Slaton also has caught 32 passes for 326 yards (10.2 avg) with 3 TD grabs this season. The Texans really need Slaton to return to the form he showed as a rookie last season to give the offense more balance. If he continues to put the ball on the ground he will fall behind Ryan Moats and Chris Brown on the depth chart.
The Houston Texans (5-4) are hosting the Tennessee Titans (3-6) for Monday Night Football. The Texans need to be ready for a solid football team, as the Titans have turned their team around ever since Vince Young became the quarterback. They have won three straight games and have been led by running back Chris Johnson. Johnson is averaging 165 yards and 2 touchdowns in the Titans past three games and has been very hard to bring down. The Texans need to shut him down and they will shut down the Titans. That is a tough task though, as Vince Young can also take off and run with the ball. He does a good job not turning the ball over either, with just one interception.
The Texans offense should be able to get a lot of yards through the air. The Titans give up 270 passing yards per game and Matt Schaub has been leading the Texans’ offense to 280 passing yards per game. Schaub has been having problems turning the ball over lately though, as he has 4 interceptions in the Texans’ past 2 games. The Titans are going to try and keep the ball out of Schaubs’ hands as long as possible though, so if they can’t stop the Titans running game Schaub may not have enough opportunities, so I am taking the Titans in a close game.
FINAL SCORE PREDICTION: Tennessee Titans 34, Houston Texans 28