Titans Make History in Worst Way Possible With Brutal Loss to Texans

Any time that the Tennessee Titans and Houston Texans play each other, it's a special occasion for the Adams family. 

Sunday marked the 49th time the two franchises have met in the NFL. The Titans were founded in 1999, and the NFL added the Texans in 2002. 

They've hated each other ever since. 

The Titans got the ball first and looked poised to open the game with a scoring drive. Tennessee got to the Houston 12-yard line and stalled, settling for a field goal to make it 3-0. 

The Texans' offense threatened to score, but the Titans' defense held firm in the first half. The Texans got into the red zone twice but couldn't score a touchdown. 

Ka'imi Fairbairn had an active day for Houston. He hit four field goals in the first half, giving the Texans a 12-3 lead. 

The Titans were outplayed, and somehow the game was still within reach. Ward went another game with a first-half interception. Danielle Hunter hit him as he threw, and Jake Hansen intercepted the pass. 

C.J. Stroud tore apart the injured Titans' secondary, which initially lacked Amani Hooker. Then, Tony Adams sustained an injury, as did Kevin Winston Jr. Cor'Dale Flott picked up a chest injury and was questionable to return. 

Adams came back in, but it didn't help much. Stroud finished the first half with 161 passing yards. 

The Texans got the ball first and wore the defense down with a long drive that took 8:23 off the clock. Our first touchdown of the game came on a run by Stroud to make it 19-3. 

The score remained the same heading into the fourth quarter. The Texans offense had another push to put the game even further out of reach. 

One stat that showed how bad things were? The Texans had 125 yards of total offense in the second half. The Titans? They had 17. 

The game was already out of reach, but the Texans made things worse with a pass to Jaylin Noel in the back of the end zone. The Texans took a commanding 26-3 lead. 

The only thing keeping the Titans from being shut out again, as they were last year, was the field goal they had on the first drive. 

DeMeco Ryans made it a point not to lose to the Titans. Since joining the Texans as head coach in 2023, he's done a pretty good job of that. The Texans are now 6-1 against the Titans under Ryans. 

With the win, the Texans now lead the series 25-24. The Titans are now 0-5. The last time they started a season 0-5 was in 2009 under Jeff Fisher. 

The divisional games keep coming for the Titans. In Week 6, they face the Indianapolis Colts on the road.