Texans @ Titans · Week 12

WEEK 12 · FINAL

THE READ

Texans edge Titans by 3

Titans had it there to be taken. Texans took it, 34-31. C.J. Stroud did the damage for Texans — 17/32, 316 yards, 3 TD, 3 INT. Jonathan Taylor carried the load for Titans — 21 carries, 126 yards, 4 TD — in a losing effort. A season best for Jonathan Taylor. Through the air: Texans 316, Titans 213.

Charlie Kirkster Analyst

THE WIDER PICTURE

Team	SRS	SOS	MARGIN	TO +/-
Texans	-1.3	-1.2	-0.1	-4
Titans	+2.6	-1.3	+3.9	+12

SRS is how many points a side beats an average team by once you account for who they played — beat a good team by 3 and it counts for more than beating a bad one by 20. SOS is how hard that schedule has been. Full table.

Texans — AFC #6 · 8-6 Titans — AFC #7 · 8-6 Playoff picture →

IN THE BOOTH

Jaylen Rivers The insider

Jonathan Taylor went off for 4 rushing touchdowns and that was the difference—Stroud had his best day too, but in a 34-31 game between two 7-5 teams scrapping for the same spot, one back dominating like that is just too much to overcome.

Luca Santana Analyst · replying

Houston stays alive in the playoff picture despite 3 turnovers, but Tennessee's domination on the ground—Taylor's 4 rushing scores came from a ground game that outgained them 126 to 55—suggests the Titans have figured out something Houston can't stop, and that's dangerous heading down the stretch.

They only ever read the box score and this league's own numbers — none of them has a source, and none of them can report anything that did not happen.

C.J. Stroud

Texans

17/32, 316 yards, 3 TD, 3 INT

Jonathan Taylor

Titans

21 carries, 126 yards, 4 TD

Will Anderson Jr

Texans

2.5 sacks

THE STORY SO FAR

⭐ Jonathan Taylor has not had a better afternoon this season.

⭐ C.J. Stroud has not had a better afternoon this season.

📉 Carnell Tate is still searching for it: 62 receiving yards a game across his last three, against an average of 91.

📉 Mark Fletcher Jr is still searching for it: 44 rushing yards a game across his last three, against an average of 61.

WHAT DECIDED IT

Through the air Texans 316, Titans 213 Texans

On the ground Titans 126, Texans 55 Titans

Total yards Texans 371, Titans 339 Texans

Giveaways Titans 0, Texans 3 Titans

THE ROOM Final. The recap is below.

📺 THE WEEK 12 SHOW this game is in the week's show ▶ Watch the show

THE MATCHUP SCOUT every number below is counted from the export or read off the roster — nothing is inferred about playcalling

LEAGUE DATA counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it

Balanced Pass 58% · Rush 42% · 25.1 scored, 25.2 allowed

8.1 yds/att 53.6% completions 5.0 yds/carry 343.5 yds/game 2.1 giveaways/game 5.5% sack rate last 5: 2-3

Primary weapon: Nico Collins WR — 33% of the receiving yards · DEPENDENCY HIGH

SAPPHIRE METRICS QB efficiency 51 · Aggressive Balance 92 Ball security 40 Back usage 36% QB runs 3.0/game

Most exposed: ball security -- 2.1 giveaways a game

PERSONNEL off the roster — unit averages, best starters only

QB 89 WR 88 TE 85 RB 82 OL 84 DL 86 LB 81 DB 91

Best: Derek Stingley Jr CB 99 Fastest: Jaylin Noel WR 93 SPD 4 at star dev or better

YOUR NOTEBOOK what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic

HOW THEY PLAY the man, not the franchise — only weeks the record attributes to him, this season

BlackManJenkins

Titans · his last 8 games

Balanced One back Takes sacks

Pass / run59% / 41% Points for / against22.4 — 19.9 Margin+2.5 Giveaways a game1.0 Sacks taken9.1% of dropbacks Lead backJonathan Taylor · 15.4/g Top targetCarnell Tate · 27% QB carries1.8 a game

Lor_mn

Texans · his last 8 games

Balanced Gives it away One target

Pass / run58% / 42% Points for / against20.6 — 23.4 Margin-2.8 Giveaways a game2.0 Sacks taken5.5% of dropbacks Lead backMark Fletcher Jr · 10.2/g Top targetNico Collins · 38% QB carries1.2 a game

Counted from the weeks each man actually held his team — so a franchise that changed hands is not credited to whoever has it now. Nothing above is a playcall: the export does not carry those, and neither does this.

THE SERIES Lor_mn against BlackManJenkins — the men, not the teams

Lor_mn leads it 1-0. Lor_mn won the last one.

1 meeting avg 34.0 — 31.0 biggest: 3 pts to Lor_mn

S2 · week 12 Lor_mn 34 — 31 BlackManJenkins LOR_MN

Only meetings Sapphire can attribute to both men are counted — a Madden export never says who owned a team last season, so the series starts where the record does.

MATCHUP ADVANTAGES unit averages against each other — inside three points is a push

Texans receivers vs Titans secondary 88 v 86 EVEN

Titans receivers vs Texans secondary 87 v 91 TEXANS

Texans line vs Titans front 84 v 90 TITANS

Titans line vs Texans front 79 v 86 TEXANS

Texans backs vs Titans run defence 82 v 89 TITANS

Titans backs vs Texans run defence 90 v 84 TITANS

Texans passer vs Titans secondary 89 v 86 TEXANS

Titans passer vs Texans secondary 87 v 91 TEXANS

TOP PERFORMERS

C.J. Stroud QB Texans 316 pass yds

Cam Ward QB Titans 213 pass yds

Jonathan Taylor HB Titans 126 rush yds

Nico Collins WR Texans 91 rec yds

Malik Benson WR Texans 87 rec yds

Carnell Tate WR Titans 84 rec yds

Jonathan Taylor HB Titans 68 rec yds

Dalton Schultz TE Texans 56 rec yds

Tank Dell WR Texans 53 rec yds

Will Anderson Jr LEDG Texans 2.5 sacks

🎬 The Game Recap
this game as an episode -- the score, the stars, the numbers that decided it -- and a video you can post ›

BOX SCORE

TEXANS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
C.J. Stroud QB	17/32	316	3	3	2	37	79.6

TITANS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
Cam Ward QB	14/23	213	0	0	5	41	91.3

TEXANS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	BTK	YAC	LNG
Mark Fletcher Jr HB	15	36	2.4	2	27	9
C.J. Stroud QB	2	15	7.5	0	0	13
Woody Marks HB	1	4	4	0	2	4
Jaylin Noel WR	0	0	0	1	0	0
Nico Collins WR	0	0	0	1	0	0
Tank Dell WR	0	0	0	1	0	0

TITANS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	BTK	YAC	LNG	FUM
Jonathan Taylor HB	21	126	6	4	3	24	45	0
Daniel Bellinger TE	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0

TEXANS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	YAC	LNG
Nico Collins WR	3	91	30.3	1	43	37
Malik Benson WR	6	87	14.5	1	14	21
Dalton Schultz TE	3	56	18.7	1	8	30
Tank Dell WR	3	53	17.7	0	13	30
Mark Fletcher Jr HB	1	28	28	0	22	28
Marlin Klein TE	1	1	1	0	0	1

TITANS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	YAC	LNG
Carnell Tate WR	6	84	14	45	30
Jonathan Taylor HB	4	68	17	50	41
Eli Finley TE	1	25	25	19	25
Daniel Bellinger TE	2	18	9	8	9
Elic Ayomanor WR	1	18	18	9	18

TEXANS

PLAYER	TKL	SCK	PD
Nehemiah Pritchett CB	4	0	1
Jalen Pitre SS	4	0	1
Derek Stingley Jr CB	3	0	0
Reed Blankenship SS	3	0	1
Kayden McDonald DT	3	0	0
Azeez Al-Shaair SAM	3	0	1
Tommy Togiai DT	2	1	0
Kamari Ramsey FS	2	0	0
Will Anderson Jr LEDG	2	2.5	0
Calen Bullock FS	2	0	1
Trey Taylor SS	2	0	0
Brice Pollock CB	1	0	0
Jermaine Johnson II REDG	1	1.5	0

TITANS

PLAYER	TKL	SCK	INT	PD
Joshua Williams CB	3	0	0	0
Anthony Hill Jr. MIKE	3	0	0	1
Cedric Gray WILL	2	0	0	0
DeForest Buckner DT	2	1	0	0
Ty Okada FS	2	0	0	0
Jacob Martin LEDG	1	0	0	0
Alontae Taylor CB	1	0	0	0
John Franklin-Myers DT	1	1	0	0
Cor'Dale Flott CB	1	0	0	1
Jeffery Simmons DT	1	0	0	0
Kayvon Thibodeaux LEDG	1	0	0	1
Kevin Winston Jr FS	0	0	1	0
DJ McKinney CB	0	0	2	1

TEXANS

PLAYER	FG	XP	LNG
Ka'imi Fairbairn K	4/4	2/2	54

TITANS

PLAYER	FG	XP	LNG
Maddux Trujillo K	1/2	4/4	41

RECENT FORM

Texans

L 16–24 vs Colts WK 10

W 24–13 vs Bills WK 9

L 16–17 vs Jaguars WK 8

Titans

L 10–20 vs Raiders WK 11

W 31–17 vs Bills WK 10

W 35–3 vs Patriots WK 9

TEAM STATS

Texans		Titans
371	TOTAL YARDS	339
316	PASSING YARDS	213
55	RUSHING YARDS	126
2	SACKS ALLOWED	5
5	SACKS MADE	2
3	GIVEAWAYS	0
0	TAKEAWAYS	3

Bold is the side that won that line. Giveaways come off a team's own offensive rows and takeaways off its own defensive rows — two separate payloads, so they need not tie out against each other.

ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD

1 TEXANS — 0 TITANS

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