OHHHHH, MAN! That was fun. WAY TOO STRESSFUL, but fun. There were so many reasons why the Texans shouldn’t have won that game, yet, they made it happen in Nashville 19-16 in overtime in a regular season classic. Here are just a few of the Big Plays that happened in that win over the Titans.
Start of the third quarter – Titans Ball
1st and ten
-25 yard line
Titans ahead 13-3
The Titans badly wanted to get star RB Derrick Henry rolling on the first play of the second half. So, they came out in 11 personnel with a tight bunch to the left side of the formation. The Texans were in their nickel alignment with Desmond King II (the nickel) to the side of the bunch. WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine went in motion to the opposite side of the formation. Then, the Titans ran duo, an inside run play, with built in double team blocks, and the opportunity for Henry to bounce the runs if the defense jams up the inside gaps. No one accounted for Des who shot the gap and hit Henry not a second after he got the handoff – TFL loss of four. WR Treylon Burks couldn’t get to King because Jon Greenard held up the TE and King darted inside that block to Henry. TFL! There were so many plays of that sort today so this one is emblematic of how well the defense did holding Henry to nine yards on 16 carries. NINE.
12:28 remaining in the third quarter – Titans Ball
2nd and nine
-39 yard line
Titans ahead 13-3 – Same drive a few plays later.
This was the big momentum turner for the Texans defense as I saw it. Two plays prior, Titans QB Will Levis pulled a Houdini magic act avoiding a sack, somehow, firing to Titans TE Chig Okonkwo for a first down. During the break, Marc threw it down to me and I said “if this Will Levis is the Will Levis I know, a huge play is followed by a big mistake. Let’s have a pick.” Well, that’s exactly what happened. The Titans came out in 11 personnel with Henry in the backfield. They motioned WR Treylon Burks across the formation to create a 3×1 on the left side. Levis faked a wide zone run to the right to Henry, then booted back to his left. When he did, he had a WR three yards downfield wide open but he decided to push his luck and throw down the field, toward the sideline. Levis’ problem was that Steven Nelson was right there and he was not wearing a Titans jersey…thankfully. Levis had a three level flood concept on that boot and he took the intermediate option of Hopkins. Nelson was right there and his pick led to a huge three points to cut the lead to 13-6 a few plays later.
3:34 remaining in the fourth quarter – Texans Ball
3rd and goal
+3 yard line
Titans ahead 16-9
The Texans, led by QB Case Keenum, marched down the field, courtesy of three massive catches by Dalton Schultz. The ball sat at the three yard line and OC Bobby Slowik put 12 personnel in the game, but the two TEs, Schultz and Brevin Jordan, are the Texans’ two best pass catching options. Schultz motioned to the left side, creating basically a double stack 2×2 alignment. The Titans dropped NT Jaleel Johnson into the middle of the field and rushed just three guys. As a result, there wasn’t a ton of room for a receiver to find his way open. So, Keenum pushed the situation by moving up in the pocket. I thought he was going to run, but when the Titans’ eyes went to Case, Noah Brown worked into the void. Keenum ripped a SHOT to Noah for the game tying touchdown. I have now watched that play 20x and it gets better every time. 16-16. Overtime coming.
1:43 remaining in overtime – Texans Ball
1st and ten
-20 yard line
Game tied at 16.
1:43 remaining in overtime – Texans Ball
1st and ten
-20 yard line
Game tied at 16.
The Texans got multiple stops in overtime but the last defensive stop gave them one final chance at a game winning field goal. They started at the 20-yard line with 11 personnel in the game with Devin Singletary as the lone running back in the backfield. As soon as he took the shotgun snap, Keenum wasn’t completely in love with the two routes to his left. Just as he scanned to the right, OLB Harold Landry was rushing from the right side and got his right hand on Keenum. But, RT Charlie Heck never quit on the play and pushed Landry on past, away from Case, and Keenum escaped to the right side. When he did, Singletary became the key. He had initially run a return route, flashing to the flat and then reversing back inside. He was open momentarily, but when Keenum started scrambling, he put scramble rules into effect. He then turned back to the outside and lost S Elijah Molden who then stumbled a bit. Keenum floated the ball to the sideline and hit Motor in stride. 41 yards later and the Texans had a realistic shot to win the game.
Ka’imi Fairbairn hit the game winning FG a few plays later.
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