TENNESSEE (vs Houston)
With Derrick Henry out of action, the Titans have a modest offense -- just 192 and 264 total yards the last two weeks against the Rams and Saints. But ...
... here's a week where average numbers could be in play. The Texans are pretty terrible. Only two teams have allowed more points, and only two defenses have allowed more yards. ... Houston can't play run defense. When we last saw this team, it was giving up only 47 rushing yards at Miami, but that's a pretty putrid offense. The Texans in their previous seven games allowed an average of 158 rushing yards, with 14 touchdowns. So this is a week they can get the ground game going, even without Derrick Henry. Adrian Peterson and D'Onta Foreman should be the main runners. They've shared time pretty evenly the last two weeks, with Foreman being a ...
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... little more effective. Peterson is probably a little more likely to carry the ball at the goal line, while Foreman could get a little juice out of playing against his former team. They'll also work in Jeremy McNichols, but he's more of a third-down back. Over the last two weeks, Foreman has more total yards than Peterson and McNichols combined. If you could blend these guys together, they would probably finish with above-average numbers in Week 11. ... Ryan Tannehill has a chance at above-average quarterbacking numbers, given the opponent. The Texans are allowing 264 passing yards per game, which is only slightly below average, but they've given up 16 TD passes (almost 2 per week). And Tannehill has a good feel for using his mobility around the end zone; he's run for 5 TDs, including one in each of the games Henry has missed. Working with modest pass catchers, however, Tannehill isn't putting up huge passing numbers. He averaged 250 passing yards in his first eight games, but he's thrown for only 143 and 213 yards in the two games without Henry. Both of those games were against good defenses, of course, but he's also no longer getting queued up for big play-action strikes downfield. ... A.J. Brown has caught only 6 passes for 58 yards in the last two games, with no touchdowns, but let's stick with him. He's been playing against very good defenses. Brown caught at least 7 passes for 90 yards in each of his three previous games, with 2 TDs. He'll come around. ... If you're looking for a Week 11 wide receiver, Marcus Johnson could be the best available on the waiver wire. With Julio Jones on IR, Johnson is starting, and he was very good on Sunday, catching 5 passes for 100 yards -- they were able to get him the ball on a few crossing routes that turned into big plays. Not a player you would normally want to use, but here they're at home against a lesser opponent. The Titans will also use Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and Chester Rogers, who've been similar to Johnson at times this year, but they had more interest in getting the ball to Johnson on Sunday. ... The Titans will use their tight ends. Geoff Swaim, Anthony Firkser and MyCole Pruitt have combined for 44 catches and 5 TDs. But it's production that's split three ways. Swaim has been the busiest recently with 4 catches in three straight games. Pruitt has caught 3 TDs, including one on Sunday. But it's too messy of a situation to interest us. ... Big picture, we're not big fans of Randy Bullock, with the offense looking almost toothless without Derrick Henry. But we'll make an exception this week, with 1-8 Houston on tap. The Texans are allowing a below-average 8 points per week against kickers. Bullock joined the Titans in Week 2, and since that time he's been about as good as anyone at his position, averaging 9 points per game. ... The Titans Defense looks like a top-10 candidate for sacks, but turnovers could be more problematic. Tyrod Taylor tossed 3 interceptions in his last game, but he more commonly has been one of the best at not forcing passes -- more of an Alex Smith. In his 43 starts for Buffalo, Taylor took 124 sacks (about 3 per week), but with only 16 interceptions.