Texans–Titans rivalry

The Texans–Titans rivalry is a professional American football rivalry in the National Football League (NFL) between the Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans.

Texans–Titans football rivalry
The Titans' defense lines up vs. the Texans' offense to begin a play during the game on January 1, 2012.
First meetingNovember 10, 2002
Titans 17, Texans 10
Latest meetingJanuary 3, 2021
Titans 41, Texans 38
Next meetingTBD, 2021
Statistics
Meetings total38
All-time seriesTitans, 21–17
Largest victoryTexans, 57–14 (2017)
Longest win streakTitans, 7 (2005–08)
Current win streakTitans, 3
Championship Success
Super Bowl Championships (0)
  • HOU – None
  • TEN – None

Conference Championships (1)

  • HOU – None
  • TEN1999

Division Championships (10)

The Texans–Titans rivalry is an intense rivalry, pitting the Tennessee Titans (formerly based in Houston as the Houston Oilers) with Houston's present-day team, the Texans. The 2002 expansion and conference realignment by the NFL put a new team into Houston. With the expansion Texans in place, the NFL's realignment created the AFC South and put the two teams together as division rivals. The Titans lead the series 21–17 entering the 2021 season. The two teams have not met in the postseason.

History

Origins

The roots can be planted back to 1996, when the former Houston Oilers relocated to Tennessee and rebranded the franchise as the Titans in 1999. Houston was awarded a new franchise in 2002 dubbed the Texans, and fans have quarreled over who was the better team in Houston.

Another earlier roots for the rivalry is knowing that Tennessee was a common ancestral place for White Texan settlers back in the 1830s. Additionally, both states have large country music scenes.

2010s

The bitterness of the rivalry has led to fistfights between the teams during games. One notable fight was on November 28, 2010, when Texans receiver Andre Johnson and Titans cornerback Cortland Finnegan exchanged blows after a play and were ejected. The Texans won that game 20–0.[1]

The rivalry became more competitive in 2011 as both teams were in the hunt for the division title most of the year. In Week 7, the Titans hosted the Texans in a match-up for the division lead and was the home field favorite while Houston was coming off of a 2-game losing streak. The Texans won 41–7 and went on to win the division that year.[2] In Week 17, Houston hosted Tennessee; the Titans had to win to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Titans won on a botched two-point conversion try by the Texans, who were trying for the win.[3] Due to the playoff scenarios, the Titans missed the playoffs. If Tennessee had qualified to play in the NFL playoffs, they would have played the Texans in the AFC Wild-Card round.

In 2018, the Texans won the AFC South at 11–5, and split with Tennessee. The Texans would play either the Titans or Colts in the upcoming Wild Card game, depending on the Sunday Night Football winner between the two. The Colts won 33–17, eliminating the Titans from the playoffs at 9-7 and setting up a wild-card match between the Texans and Colts. Had the Titans won, it would've been the first meeting in the playoffs between the two teams, similar to 2011.

The Texans vs. the Titans at Nissan Stadium in Week 15, 2019.

In 2019, the Texans Week 15 road game against Titans marked the first time that both teams were 8–5 at the same time. The Texans beat the Titans 24–21,[4] and in Week 16 the Texans won the AFC South after beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23–20. In the final week of regular season, the Titans faced the Texans on the road. The Titans needed to win the game or a Pittsburgh Steelers loss against the Baltimore Ravens in order to make the playoffs. Behind a 211-yard, three-touchdown day from running back Derrick Henry and the Texans resting starters, the Titans won 35–14 to clinch the sixth seed in the playoffs.[5]

2020s

The most competitive game in the history of the rivalry came on October 18, 2020 at Nissan Stadium. Under interim coach Romeo Crennel, taking over for the fired Bill O'Brien, the Texans erased a 21–7 gap to lead 36–29, but the Titans stormed down and scored with seven seconds left. In overtime the Titans got first possession and advanced 82 yards on six plays ending in a direct snap touchdown run by Derrick Henry.[6] In the second meeting of the 2020 season, Sam Sloman kicked a 37-yard field goal that bounced off the right upright and in to give Tennessee the 41–38 win. This was the highest-scoring game (79 points) in the history of the rivalry.

Season-by-season results

Houston Texans vs. Tennessee Titans Season-by-Season Results

References

  1. "Andre Johnson Fights Cortland Finnegan: Texans Beat Titans 20-0 (VIDEO)". HuffPost. November 29, 2010. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  2. "Houston Texans vs. Tennessee Titans - Box Score - October 23, 2011". ESPN. October 23, 2011. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  3. "Tennessee Titans vs. Houston Texans - Recap - January 1, 2012". ESPN. January 1, 2012. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  4. Lambert, Terry A. (2019-12-15). "Texans beat Titans 24-21, take back control of AFC South". Music City Miracles. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  5. Davenport, Turron (2019-12-30). "Titans seal last AFC berth to set up Pats matchup". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  6. 2020-10-18. "Henry, Titans rally past Texans 42-36 in OT, remain unbeaten". www.msn.com. Retrieved 2020-11-07.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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