Stroud, Levis both should return Sunday when Texans host Titans in game with playoff implications

Updated Dec. 28, 2023 5:22 p.m. ET

Associated Press

TENNESSEE (5-10) at HOUSTON (8-7)

Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, Fox

OPENING LINE: Texans by 4½, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

AGAINST THE SPREAD: Tennessee 6-8-1; Houston 7-8.

SERIES RECORD: Titans lead 23-20.

LAST MEETING: Texans beat Titans 19-16 in overtime on Dec. 17 in Nashville.

LAST WEEK: Titans lost to Seahawks 20-17; Texans lost to Browns 36-22.

TITANS OFFENSE: OVERALL (27), RUSH (17), PASS (26), SCORING (T26).

TITANS DEFENSE: OVERALL (17), RUSH (14), PASS (18), SCORING (15).

TEXANS OFFENSE: OVERALL (11), RUSH (23), PASS (7), SCORING (18).

TEXANS DEFENSE: OVERALL (19), RUSH (6), PASS (26), SCORING (18).

TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL: Titans minus-6; Texans plus-8.

TITANS PLAYER TO WATCH: QB Will Levis. The rookie missed last week with the sprained left ankle he aggravated on the seventh and final sack in the OT loss to Houston. He threw for 199 yards and ran for the first TD of his career against the Texans. He has a team-high eight TD passes and drove the Titans to a comeback win at Miami on Dec. 11 for Tennessee’s lone road win this season.

TEXANS PLAYER TO WATCH: S Kareem Jackson. The veteran was claimed off waivers from the Denver Broncos on Tuesday after Jimmie Ward went on injured reserve. Jackson was drafted in the first round by the Texans in 2010 and spent his first nine seasons in Houston before joining the Broncos. Jackson has played just eight games this year in a season where he has been fined five times, ejected twice and suspended twice for a total of six games over a series of illegal hits. Sunday will be his first game since Nov. 19.

KEY MATCHUP: Houston rookie C.J. Stroud vs. Tennessee’s pass defense. The second overall pick said Thursday that he'll start after missing two games recovering from the concussion he sustained Dec. 10 against the Jets. This will be his first meeting against the Titans after Case Keenum threw for 229 yards with a touchdown and an interception in Houston’s win on Dec. 17. Stroud threw for a season-low 91 yards in the loss to the Jets but had five straight games with at least 270 yards before that.

KEY INJURIES: The Titans have 16 players on injured reserve, including nine starters. Levis practiced fully along with WR Kyle Philips, who missed the past two games with a hamstring injury. … RG Daniel Brunskill (ankle) was limited after missing a game. ... Starting CB Sean Murphy-Bunting hopes to return after missing a game with an injured hip. … Houston DE Will Anderson Jr., the third overall pick in the draft, missed practice this week and could be out for a third straight game with an ankle injury. … LB Blake Cashman should return this week after missing the past two games with a hamstring injury.

SERIES NOTES: This is the second meeting in three weeks between these teams. … The Titans have won four straight in the Texans’ home, adding more spice to this AFC South rivalry against the team that replaced them in Houston. ...The Texans have won two straight in Tennessee and have a chance to sweep the season series for the first time since 2015 in Ken Whisenhunt’s lone full season as the Titans’ head coach.

STATS AND STUFF: Titans RB Derrick Henry ranks sixth in the NFL with 972 yards rushing and has 11 TDs. With 28 yards rushing, Henry will become the 10th player in NFL history with five or more seasons with at least 1,000 yards rushing and 10 rushing TDs. … Henry needs one rushing TD for 12 for the fifth time in his career. He would join LaDainian Tomlinson, Emmitt Smith, Adrian Peterson, Shaun Alexander and Jim Brown as the only players in NFL history with five such seasons. … Henry will join Eddie George as the only players in franchise history and the 42nd player in NFL history with 2,000 rushing attempts on his next carry. … Titans WR DeAndre Hopkins, who started his career in Houston, has caught a pass in 160 straight games to start his career. That’s the third-longest such streak to begin a career in NFL history trailing Marvin Harrison (190) and Keyshawn Johnson (167). Hopkins needs 61 yards receiving for his seventh career 1,000-yard season. … DL Denico Autry has a career-high 11½ sacks and needs a half sack to become the franchise’s 10th person with 12 or more in a season since sacks became an official stat in 1982. Autry is 1½ sacks shy of ranking second only to Jevon Kearse (14½) for most sacks since 1999. … OLB Harold Landry has 8½ of his 9½ sacks in his past 10 games. … K Nick Folk has made an NFL-record 78 straight field goals on attempts from less than 40 yards. He needs two more made field goals for his sixth career season with at least 30 field goals and would join Justin Tucker, who has an NFL record eight such seasons, as the only kickers to do that in NFL history. … The Titans have 16 players on injured reserve and tied a season high by playing 11 rookies last week. … The Texans remain in contention for both the AFC South title and a wild-card playoff spot, but a loss Sunday would drop their chances to reach the postseason for the first time since 2019 to just 13%. … RB Devin Singletary had a career-high 170 combined yards in the previous game against Tennessee. He needs 60 yards to reach 1,000 combined yards for a third straight season. … RB Dameon Pierce returned kicks for the first time in his career last week and returned one for 98 yards for a score to make the Texans the league’s only team with two KR TDs this season. … FB Andrew Beck had his first touchdown catch of the season last week. … WR Nico Collins had his career-high seventh touchdown catch last week. He has at least 100 yards receiving and a touchdown in two of his three games against the AFC South this season. … WR Noah Brown had eight catches for 82 yards and a touchdown in the previous game against the Titans. He has a career-high 559 yards receiving this season. … TE Dalton Schultz has had at least 55 yards receiving in consecutive games. … CB Desmond King led the team with 11 tackles and had two tackles for losses last week. … CB Derek Stingley defended two passes and had his fifth interception of the season last week. He has had an interception in four straight home games. … S DeAndre Houston-Carson had six tackles, a tackle for loss and an interception last week. … DE Jerry Hughes had his second sack of the season last week.

FANTASY TIP: Henry managed just 9 yards on 16 carries in the first meeting with Houston this season, but his history against the Texans makes it seem unlikely that they’d shut him down again. Before that game he’d rushed for at least 210 yards in four of the previous five meetings with Houston.

___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl