NFL: Miller Show! Texans win eighth game in a row

The Houston Texans (8-3) march on – and have now won their eighth game in a row. The Texans beat the Tennessee Titans (5-6) 34-17 at the end of Week 12 and Houston is still on course to win the division in the AFC South.

From Texan’s point of view, it was mainly Lamar Miller’s game: the running back ran a total of only twelve runs 162 yards and a touchdown, and already in the first half he had recorded 148 rushing-yards: a new franchise record for a first half as well as the NFL record since Doug Martin’s 177 rushing-yards in the first round of Week 11 2015.

The clear highlight was a 97-yard touchdown run in the middle of the second quarter, which came at a critical time: Houston had taken the lead 14-10 a few minutes earlier, but Tennessee could not stop several times in return. The Titans marched down the field to the 3-yard line of the Texans, where they finally played from the 3-yard line 4th&1.

But Houston’s defense finally held here, also because Tennessee didn’t choose a creative fullback dive over the tight end instead of using Mariota’s rushing skills. The Titans had noticeably incorporated these elements into their game plan, with Zone Reads, Misdirection and a quick short pass game, Houston’s Pass-Rush was initially removed from the game.

Directly with the next play after the 4th-Down-Stop Miller 97 Yards ran into the endzone. He is now the first player in NFL history to have two touchdown runs over at least 97 yards, and it was a clear turning point in a game that had been played at eye level until then – because Tennessee also had some explosive plays in store.

So Marcus Mariota (22/23, 303 YDS, 2 TD) – whose first and only incompletion in a very conservative passing approach occurred 1:06 minutes before the end – managed a 61-yard touchdown to Jonnu Smith directly at the second drive, when the tight end ran away after a short pass over the middle of the Texans defense. In the middle of the second half he found Corey Davis on the right side, who after two missed Texans tackles and 48 yards shortened to 17:27 in the meantime.

However, the Titans had too many drive killers in addition to these explosive plays. In addition to the Turnover on Downs just before Houston’s end zone, Tennessee also recorded four drives, each under five yards in space, and two drives even ended in minus yards (-11 and -6) when Mariota took two of his six sacks. The offensive line broke more and more and Houston’s defense could get the game better under control.

After both of these drives, the hosts scored in critical moments: one time with a fast, perfectly executed field goal drive just before the half-time break, and finally at the beginning of the final quarter with a 7-play drive to provide the preliminary decision with 34:17.

The home victory of the Texans, who turned the game on its head after a rapid 10-0 deficit at the beginning of the game, was ultimately marked by their own Rushing records, quarterback Deshaun Watson (19/24, 210 YDS, 2 TD) also set a personal record with 70 Rushing-Yards. While Tennessee, apart from the two Big Plays, was heavily focused on the short pass game, the Texans found a more dangerous rhythm.

In addition to his own run game, Watson was also able to attack the Titans Defense in the mid-range again and again, and he also showed a noticeably improved chemistry with the recently signed Demaryius Thomas (4 REC, 38 YDS, 2 TD): the Wide Receiver caught two touchdown passes in the Red Zone and is likely to play an even bigger role alongside DeAndre Hopkins over the coming weeks.

Houston, who has now won 29 of 30 games under Bill O’Brien when leading to the halfway point, can keep the Indianapolis Colts at bay by this victory with two games. The Texans receive Indianapolis in two weeks for the possibly decisive division duel.