Houston Texans: Three factors to dismantling the Titans on MNF
By T.A. Mock
Bringing down whoever is at QB is the baseline for success
The first time the Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans faced off this season, in week two, Mariota was held out due to injury. So, the Titans trotted out Blaine Gabbert who was able to lead them to a victory. Heading into their second matchup, the Texans don’t know whether or not they’ll face Mariota or Gabbert.
Mariota left their last game against the Colts with a pretty bad stinger. This isn’t the first time he’s been held out of action for some nerve issues but they don’t appear to be related in this case. The Titans may want to play it safe with their franchise quarterback and hold him out but the long week could quell any fears.
This is what makes the game plan for the Texans so difficult. Mariota and Gabbert have two significantly different play styles and the game plan for either quarterback figures to be pretty different as well.
The Titans would probably have a more limited playbook with Gabbert at the helm which would likely feature a stronger rushing game. The offense was built around Mariota at quarterback so it would obviously have a more significant amount of plays in the game plan.
More. The Watson-Hopkins connection is deadly and special. light
Regardless of who is leading the team at quarterback, the Houston Texans pass rush is going to need to be at its peak form on Monday night. The Texans have three really good pass rushers in JJ Watt, Jadeveon Clowney, and Whitney Mercilus. Mercilus has struggled to regain his top form this year, though, his play has improved significantly the past four weeks.
The Titans have a very solid offensive line when healthy so the Texans are going to need this trio to produce at a high level in order to ensure they can stifle the Titans’ offense completely. If Romeo Crennel can dial up blitzes and stunts to keep the Titans guessing, their offense will have a hard time getting anywhere.
When under pressure and blitzed, both Gabbert and Mariota have a significant drop off in production. Gabbert’s passer rating plummets over seventy points when under pressure while Mariota’s drops about ten points. So, independent of who is taking snaps, pressure while be key and the Texans are excellent at generating it.