If there was ever a time for Tennessee to end the dominance held over them by Houston, this is it.
When the Texans welcome the Titans to NRG Stadium on Sunday, they will take the field without three-time Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt, who was placed on injured reserve Wednesday after re-injuring his back.
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The Titans have lost seven of eight games against the Texans, including a four-game losing streak in the series. None of the last four games have been close, with Houston winning by an average score of 33-16.
The Texans will definitely miss Watt, who has had some of his best games against the Titans with 15 1/2 sacks in 10 games. He even had a receiving touchdown against Tennessee in 2014. Without Watt, there will be added pressure on third-year pass rusher Jadeveon Clowney to help Houston prevent Tennessee from reversing that trend.
"You can never replace the best player in the NFL," Texans coach Bill O’Brien said of Watt. “When someone like that goes down it’s a tough thing, obviously, but at the same time this is a football team. A team made up of some really good veteran leaders, some really good young players, a lot of good players."
The Texans still have a talented defensive front with Clowney, linebackers Whitney Mercilus, John Simon, mammoth defensive tackle Vince Wilfork and second-year linebacker Bernardrick McKinney, who had 16 tackles in last Thursday’s 27-0 loss to the Patriots. Even without Watt, Tennessee’s offensive line won’t have it easy.
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Clowney, whom Titans coach Mike Mularkey called disruptive, likely will be double-teamed Sunday, like he was much of the time against the Patriots. It started on New England’s first play from scrimmage, when tackle Nate Solder and guard Joe Thuney contained Clowney inside.
The responsibility of keeping second-year quarterback Marcus Mariota upright starts with Tennessee’s young tackles Taylor Lewan and Jack Conklin.
Sunday will be the first time Mariota, who is struggling with consistency and ball security this season, has faced the Texans. Mariota has thrown for 723 yards and four touchdowns, but has thrown four interceptions and lost two fumbles, one of which was returned for a touchdown following a botched hand-off. Mariota has been sacked six times, mainly from interior pressure.
Even without Watt on the field, Lewan knows the Titans linemen have to remain technically sound and active by keeping their feet moving and using their hands to be effective.
Lined up across from Lewan for most of the day Sunday will likely be Clowney, who finally appears healthy after two injury-plagued seasons. Lewan will also have to go against Mercilus and others as the Texans do a wonderful job of mixing up defensive looks.
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Lewan has more than held his own against Clowney, but even when he stones Clowney, Lewan has still been affected by Watt’s pass rush. In Houston’s 30-16 win over Tennessee in 2014, Watt had two sacks, a forced fumble, tackle for loss and batted pass.
On a strip-sack of Zach Mettenberger, Watt and Mercilus ran a stunt on a pair of first-round draft picks. Watt lined up across from right guard Chance Warmack, the 10th overall pick in 2013, while Mercilus was a stand-up end opposite right tackle Michael Oher, selected 23rd overall in 2009. Watt pressed Warmack briefly while Mercilus slanted inside, taking Oher with him. Watt then bounced off Warmack and burst around Oher on the edge to get to Mettenberger.
As Mettenberger went down, he fell onto the leg of Lewan, who was engaged with Clowney after previously knocking him down.
Oher got stuck, which is something Conklin can’t afford to do Sunday. The eighth overall pick from Michigan State has done pretty well in pass protection but did give up a safety against the Lions. Instead of firing off the line on a first-down run from the Titans 5-yard line, Conklin was passive, and Lions defensive end Devin Taylor blew right by him to drop DeMarco Murray in the end zone.
Lewan, who faced both Watt and Clowney while at Michigan, admitted to playing "like s—" during last November’s 20-6 loss to the Texans. Watt had 2 1/2 sacks in the Houston victory while Mercilus recorded a career-high 3 1/2 sacks. His three solo sacks all came while he lined up across from Lewan. The first was a simple speed rush as he blasted past Lewan on the edge. On his second sack, he ducked inside on a stunt to get Mettenberger. His third sack was a bull rush as he got Lewan on skates.
Houston shuffled Watt up and down the line and will use the 270-pound Clowney in a similar manner.
"He’s the type of player that you can move around and ask him to do different things because he understands football,” O'Brien said of Clowney. "He really understands blocking schemes, I believe. He really likes to play all different spots. He's into the game plan every week."
On a strip-sack of Mettenberger in last year’s 20-6 victory on Nov. 1, Watt split a double-team to get to Mettenberger.
With Simon, who has a team-best 2 1/2 sacks and a forced fumble this season, lined up outside Watt’s left shoulder, he drew right tackle Jamon Meredith as Watt veered inside. Watt got a great burst off the snap and beat Warmack inside. He even drew a holding penalty on center Joe Looney before getting to Mettenberger.
Watt had another strip-sack of Mettenberger in Houston’s 34-6 win on Dec. 27, ducking under Meredith before bolting by him to get to the quarterback.
What the Texans defense may miss the most is Watt’s uncanny ability to deflect passes at the line. His 44 pass breakups since he entered the league in 2011 leads all defensive linemen. Clowney has just seven career pass breakups and his lone pass defensed this season came in a Week 2 win over the Kansas City Chiefs. Penetration and vision were key on that play as Clowney swatted away an attempted wide receiver screen to Jeremy Maclin.
Devon Still, who is the next man up on the depth chart, doesn’t have Watt’s athleticism, but can’t be ignored. The same can be said for recently signed Antonio Smith, who was with the Texans from 2009-13 and was a Pro Bowler in 2011. Smith has 47 sacks in 12 seasons to go with 11 forced fumbles.
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Meredith is no longer with the Titans, replaced at right tackle by Conklin. There will be a lot of pressure on Tennessee’s book-end tackles, but maybe even more pressure on Clowney to replace Watt.