This will be an interesting game as the Titans travel to the city that they were stolen from. For that reason, look for the Texans crowd to be sky high for this ball game. It’s also likely that the Titans will be without Vince Young (quad) on Sunday but that might hurt the Texans as Kerry Collins is a better passer than Young is.

Look for the Titans to run the football first like they always do. Chris Brown is a little banged up with an ankle injury so LenDale White might have to shoulder most of the load. White has rushed for 276 yards and only 3.2 yards per carry so far this season but the Texans have allowed 116.8 yards rushing per game and 4.8 yards per carry this season. The Titans offensive line has paved the way for the Titans to average 141.8 yards rushing per game this season. Kerry Collins will likely try to stretch the defense by taking some deep shots to Justin Gage and Roydell Williams. The best hope for the Texans would be to blitz a lot in this game and try to force Collins into throwing some bad passes.

The Texans have defended the home turf pretty well as they are 2-1 on the season and they’ve outscored there opponents 66-52 at home. Matt Schaub must protect the football better as he has already thrown 5 pickoffs and he’s also lost 3 fumbles. Look for the Texans to throw the ball often as the Titans are only allowing 63.8 yards rushing per game this season. Schaub must be careful against the Titans who have only allowed 3 TD passes and picked off 7 passes already this season. Still, look for the Texans to throw deep to Andre Davis and shorter passes to TE Owen Daniels and WR Kevin Walter.

PREDICTION: With Chris Brown and Vince Young likely out for Sunday, look for the Texans to make just enough plays against the Titans defense to take home a close victory. TEXANS 17, TITANS 14.

The Titans will be without WR Brandon Jones for the next two or three weeks after he underwent knee surgery. Jones has played pretty well this season for the Titans. He has caught 13 passes for 172 yards (13.2 avg) with 1 TD grab and he also has carried the ball 1 time for 19 yards. Look for Roydell Williams and Eric Moulds to get more looks in the passing game until Jones is healthy enough to return.

The Titans should have won this football game considering that they owned possession of the football for 37:37 of this game. But, Matt Bryant nailed a 43 yard field goal with 11 seconds left to seal the victory. Vince Young didn’t have his best game as he completed 11 of 14 passes for 120 yards with ) TD passes and an interception. He also lost a fumble before leaving the game in the third quarter with a strained quad. Kerry Collins replaced him as he was solid in completing 10 of 20 passes for 165 yards. LenDale White did the heavy lifting in the running game as he carried the ball 25 times for 64 yards (2.6 ypc) with 1 TD run and he also caught 2 passes for 9 yards. Chris Brown only carried the ball 5 times for 26 yards (5.2 ypc). Justin Gage had one of the best games of his career as he caught 4 passes for 82 yards (20.5 avg). Eric Moulds (6 rec, 49 yards) and Roydell Williams (5 rec, 44 yards) both also had solid games for the Titans. The Titans finished up with 96 yards rushing on 33 carries (2.9 ypc) and they also completed 21 of 34 passes for 221 yards.

The defense played a solid game until the last drive when Jeff Garcia’s passing led to a game-winning field goal for the Bucs. The Titans held the Bucs to 30 yards rushing on 15 carries (2.0 ypc) but the Bucs completed 20 of 31 passes for 274 yards.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=271014027

The Titans (3-1) and the Buccaneers (3-2) are both off to good starts this season. The Titans are doing it by running the football and playing outstanding defense. The Bucs are doing it with a solid bend but don’t break defense.

The Titans will come out running the football like they always do as they are averaging 153.3 yards per game and 4.1 yards per carry so far this season. Chris Brown (273 yards), LenDale White (212 yards) and Vince Young (123 yards) will be a serious test for the Front 7 of the Bucs defense that got gashed on the ground by the Colts last week who were using a backup running back. Don’t expect a big air attack out of the Titans as Vince Young is not a great passer and when they do pass they will likely keep the patterns short.

Look for the Buccaneers to go to the air early in this football game to attempt to take the Titans out of their running game and force Vince Young to beat them thru the air. With all of the injuries to the running backs on the Bucs look for Jeff Garcia to try to throw the ball down the field to Joey Galloway (18 rec, 306 yards) and Ike Hilliard (23 rec, 304 yards) but he better be careful against the Titans D which already has 7 sacks this season. It will be up to Ernest Graham (147 yards, 4.1 ypc) and rookie Kenneth Darby to give the Bucs some balance but the Titans only allow 72.3 yards rushing per game and 3.8 yards per carry so far this season.

PREDICITON: The Titans are one of the best kept secrets in all of football and they will beat the Bucs in Tampa on Sunday. They will do it by punching the Bucs in the mouth early and often as they are one of the most physical teams in all of the NFL.

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The Titans played a great game on defense and that’s the reason for this victory as the offense didn’t play that well. Vince Young completed 20 of 33 passes for 157 yards with 0 TD passes and 3 INTs. He also carried the ball 8 times for 27 yards (3.4 ypc). LenDale White also had a tough game as he carried the ball 12 times for 32 yards (2.7 ypc) but he lost a fumble that the Falcons returned for a TD. Chris Brown also didn’t get much going as he carried the ball 10 times for 27 yards (2.7 ypc) with a TD run. Veteran receiver Eric Moulds led the way for the receivers with 4 grabs for 31 yards (7.8 avg). The Titans finished with 92 yards rushing on 32 carries (2.9 ypc) and they completed 20 of 33 passes for 157 yards.

The defense played an outstanding game. In fact the game winning play was on defense when safety Vincent Fuller returned an interception 76 yards for a TD in the third quarter which was the final scoring play in this football game. DE Kyle Vanden Bosch also had an outstanding game with 7 tackles and a sack. The Falcons rushed for 99 yards on 22 carries (4.5 ypc) and they also completed 18 of 39 passes for 99 yards.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=271007010