Week 14 Game Recap: Tennessee Titans 26, Houston Texans 20

What you need to know

Tennessee Titans

Vince Young’s 39 yard touchdown scramble ended an evenly matched game that required overtime. Young played one of his better games as a pro. He finished 19 of 29 for 218 yards. Young added 86 yards on the ground, including the deciding run. He did throw one interception on a play where he fell down in the backfield, quickly got up, and forced a hurried pass.

The Titans had a good game on the ground with 218 rushing yards. Travis Henry led them with 88 hard fought yards. Henry scored the first two Titans' touchdowns. Chris Brown had his first chance since week six and contributed 44 yards on only four attempts.

Tennessee had a productive, balanced game on offense with at least 200 yards of both passing and rushing offense and 418 total yards.

Drew Bennett was the Titans’ leading receiver. Bennett hauled in six passes for 113 yards.

Tennessee swept the Texans for the season. After losing their first five games, the Titans have now won six of their last eight, including four in a row, their first four game win streak since 2003. Vince Young is now 6-4 as a starter.

Houston Texans

The Texans had the second largest crowd in their five year history. While many came to support the team and root against the franchise that had deserted them, some came to show their displeasure that the Texans did not draft native son, Vince Young. Young added fuel to the debate that will likely go on throughout his career. He completed nearly 68 percent of his passes for 218 yards and burned the Houston defense for 86 yards on the ground, including the game winning 39 yard scamper that will leave Houston fans with a bitter aftertaste.

David Carr rebounded from a 32 yard passing performance and finished this game 17 of 23. While Carr passed for only 140 yards, he was usually forced to look for the short routes in order to avoid pressure from Titans’ defenders, who frequently penetrated the porous Houston offensive line. Carr did a good job to avoid the pressure and was sacked only twice. He has now been sacked 36 times on the season. Wali Lundy again started the game at tailback. However, Lundy had only two attempts for no gain before he yielded the majority of the carries to Ron Dayne for the second week in a row. Dayne had another good game and may have solidified himself as the lead candidate in the crowded Houston backfield. Dayne finished with 87 yards on 21 attempts and had his first two touchdowns as a Texan. Meanwhile, Samkon Gado was inactive for the game.

After Kris Brown kicked a 46 yard field goal late in the game, the Houston defense held and forced overtime. Tennessee won the coin toss and Adam (Pacman) Jones returned Brown’s overtime kickoff to the 43 yard line. Five plays later Vince Young converted a third down and 14 into a 39 yard game winning touchdown.

What you ought to know

QB Vince Young, Pass: 19 - 29 - 218 - 0 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 7 - 86 - 1

Young played well in front of his hometown crowd. He completed nearly 68 percent of his passes for 218 yards. While Young is showing steady improvement as a passer, he may still be most dangerous with his feet. Young took off seven times for 86 yards, including the game ending 39 yard touchdown in overtime. When a flea-flicker did not fool the defense, he took off running instead and gained 24 yards. Young’s scrambling ability created another big opportunity early in the game. Young was forced out of the pocket to his left before finding Drew Bennett free behind the Houston defense. He was able to loft the ball to Bennett, but Bennett dropped the pass, negating what would have been about a 40 yard gain.

Young did make one bad decision in the game. He fell down after taking a snap and then hurried to his feet and forced a rushed pass that was intercepted by Demarcus Faggins. He was also guilty of holding the ball too long on the two times he was sacked.

RB Travis Henry, Rush: 20 - 88 - 2, Rec: 2 - 7 - 0 (3 targets)

Henry had a good game. He showed burst and ran hard. Henry’s long gain went for 15 yards. On the play, he broke the initial tackle attempt and gained solid yardage before finally dragging the defender the last few yards. Henry had touchdown runs of nine and two yards. Henry now has seven rushing touchdowns on the season. Henry lost gains of eight and 14 yards to penalties.

Henry caught two passes for seven yards.

RB Chris Brown, Rush: 4 - 44 - 0 (1 targets)

Brown saw his first action since week six. He was given only four carries, but gained 44 yards. Brown did not show any rust. He had gains of 21 and 16 yards. Brown was targeted with one pass unsuccessfully.

RB Ahmard Hall, Rush: 1 - -1 - 0, Rec: 3 - 29 - 0 (4 targets)

Hall, the fullback, had one carry that lost a yard. He caught three passes for 29 yards. His first reception was a screen pass that gained 25 yards before a hit by Morlon Greenwood caused a lost fumble.

RB Casey Cramer, Rec: 1 - 2 - 0 (1 targets)

Cramer’s second career reception gained two yards.

RB LenDale White

LenDale White was inactive for the game. He is battling the flu and a hip flexor injury.

WR Drew Bennett, Rec: 6 - 113 - 0 (11 targets)

Bennett was targeted a game high 11 times, more than twice the targets of any other Titan. He caught six of those passes for 113 yards. He had receptions of 29 and 39 yards but also had a drop on Tennessee’s second play. Bennett had gotten behind the defense on the play, but had to wait for Young’s pass, which fell right through his otherwise sure hands. Had Bennett held the pass, he would have gained about 40 yards.

WR Bobby Wade, Rec: 2 - 17 - 0 (2 targets)

Wade caught both of his targets for a total of 17 yards.

He returned four kickoffs for 110 yards.

WR Brandon Jones, Rec: 2 - 33 - 0 (4 targets)

Jones has been starting since David Givens’ knee injury in week ten. He had receptions of 18 and 15 yards.

WR Courtney Roby (1 targets)

Roby was targeted once on a deep post. Demarcus Faggins was beaten on the play, but was able to recover just enough to knock the pass down and save what would have been a 37 yard touchdown.

TE Bo Scaife, Rec: 2 - 8 - 0 (3 targets)

Scaife was targeted three times and caught two passes for eight yards. He was unable to handle an errantly thrown high pass.

TE Ben Hartsock, Rec: 1 - 9 - 0 (2 targets)

Hartsock recorded his second reception of the season for a nine yard pickup.

PK Rob Bironas 2 - 2 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 8 points

Bironas was perfect on the day hitting field goals of 41 and 33 yards plus both extra point attempts.

TEN Rush Defense

The Titans' run defense held the Texans to 107 yards rushing on 30 attempts, a 3.6 yard average. Ron Dayne had 88 of those yards and two touchdowns. Peter Sirmon and Kyle Vanden Bosch each had seven solo tackles. Vanden Bosch added an assist.

TEN Pass Defense

David Carr completed over 73 percent of his 23 pass attempts, but Tennessee’s defense allowed no completion longer than 21 yards and limited Carr to only 140 yards passing. The Titans’ defense sacked Carr twice, once by Randy Starks and once by Pacman Jones.

QB David Carr, Pass: 17 - 23 - 140 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 4 - 6 - 0

After throwing for only 32 yards last week, Carr was sharp in this game, especially in the first half. He completed nine of his ten pass attempts before halftime. Carr almost had a perfect half, but the lone incompletion was dropped by Andre Johnson. By necessity, Carr looked mainly for short routes in an effort to get rid of the ball quickly and avoid sacks. Carr started the game leading the league in completion percentage and added to that rate by connecting on nearly 74 percent of his passes in the game. Though he passed for only 140 yards, Carr did a good job to take what the defense gave him and what his leaky offensive line allowed him. However, after throwing nine touchdown passes in his first six games, Carr has only one touchdown pass in the last seven games.

Carr gained six yards on four running attempts (including two kneel downs). His long scramble was a nine yard gain

QB Sage Rosenfels

Backup quarterback, Sage Rosenfels is out for the season with a broken thumb.

RB Ron Dayne, Rush: 21 - 87 - 2, Rec: 3 - 12 - 0 (3 targets)

Dayne entered the game early in the second quarter and promptly gained all but nine of the yards during Houston’s first touchdown drive. On the drive, he had seven runs for 39 yards and caught one six yard pass.

Dayne led the Texans in rushing for the second consecutive game. He averaged just over four yards on his 21 carries and scored his first two touchdowns of the season. Dayne used his brawn in a workmanlike performance. He was held to no gain once and was not stopped for a loss. Dayne had two 11 yard runs in the game. He caught all three of his targets for a total of 12 yards.

RB Wali Lundy, Rush: 5 - 14 - 0, Rec: 1 - 7 - 0 (2 targets)

Lundy started at tailback. However, he was given only two rushing attempts (for zero yards) before Ron Dayne took over. Lundy got three other attempts sprinkled throughout the game and gained 14 yards. However, it is looking more like Dayne might be the main man down the home stretch of the season.

Lundy caught one pass for a seven yard gain. He gained six yards on a kickoff return.

RB Vonta Leach, Rec: 1 - 10 - 0 (1 targets)

Leach’s first reception of the season resulted in a ten yard gain.

RB Samkon Gado

Gado was inactive for the game. He appears to be the odd man out in the Houston backfield mix.

WR Andre Johnson, Rec: 7 - 68 - 0 (10 targets)

Johnson led the league with 85 receptions coming into the game. He added a game high seven more to that total on ten targets. Johnson’s 21 yard catch was Houston’s long reception. He was used mostly on short routes so that David Carr could get rid of his passes quickly. Johnson was targeted once on a deep pass route near the goal line, but the pass was broken up. He dropped a pass in the first half.

WR Eric Moulds, Rec: 1 - 7 - 0 (2 targets)

Moulds had one seven yard reception. His other target should have resulted in a Titans' pass interference penalty, but no flag was thrown.

TE Jeb Putzier, Rec: 2 - 11 - 0 (2 targets)

Putzier caught both of his targets for eleven yards.

TE Owen Daniels, Rec: 2 - 25 - 0 (3 targets)

Daniels caught passes of nine and 16 yards. He was open for another potential big gain, but David Carr overthrew him on the play.

PK Kris Brown 2 - 2 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 8 points

Brown nailed both of his extra point attempts and hit fourth quarter field goals of 49 and 46 yards.

HOU Rush Defense

The Titans rushed for 218 yards on 33 attempts, a whopping 6.6 average per carry. Those numbers are inflated by big Vince Young runs of 24 and 39 yards. All three of Tennessee’s touchdowns came on the ground. Young, Travis Henry, and Chris Brown were all efficient in a poor performance by the Houston run defense. Morlon Greenwood had nine solo tackles, an assist, and a forced fumble. DeMeco Ryans started the game second in the league with 114 tackles. He added eight solo tackles and six assists.

HOU Pass Defense

Vince Young had an effective game against the Texans’ pass defense. He completed 19 of his 29 passes for 218 yards. The defense did not allow a touchdown pass. Demarcus Faggins intercepted an ill-advised Young pass and also recovered a fumble. He also broke up a pass attempt to Courtney Roby that would have been a touchdown. N.D. Kalu and Antwan Peek had the two Texan sacks.