The Tennessee Titans face the Houston Texans on Sunday, Oct. 1 in Week 4 of the 2017 NFL season. Here are the highlights from the game.
Coming into the 2017 season, the hope was that the Tennessee Titans would be a team to take the leap. After letting some down in Week 1, they’ve looked the part in recent weeks with wins over the Jaguars and Seahawks in convincing fashion. With that said, they went into Week 4 with a big opportunity at hand, going on the road to face the defending AFC South Champion Houston Texans.
Marcus Mariota got things started on a bad foot. On the Titans opening drive, the normal ball-secure quarterback threw an interception. That’s when the Deshaun Watson and the Texans took it right through the defense to go up 7-0 on a Lamar Miler touchdown. Houston’s defense stepped up again with a big stop and then drove for another score to take a two-score lead in the first quarter on a DeAndre Hopkins touchdown catch.
After the same pattern repeated to push it to 21-0 with a touchdown pass to Will Fuller, Mariota tried to put the team on his back. He rushed for a nasty long score, then the defense held (kind of) and limited Houston to a field goal. That set up another Tennessee drive, and Mariota again ran it in.
However, the defense had no answer for Watson and company. They added another score and went into halftime up 30-14. In the second half, Mariota was pulled with a hamstring injury, but it wouldn’t have mattered. Their defense was just getting torched all day long by the rookie.
In the end, Watson finished with five total touchdowns and just ran through the division rivals. It was a big day and furthered his announcement that he’s arrived.
Highlights
.@DeshaunWatson pitches it to @Millertime_6 for the @HoustonTexans TD! #TENvsHOU https://t.co/0LchD1Tkpy
— NFL (@NFL) October 1, 2017
.@DeshaunWatson finds @DeandreHopkins for SIX! 🙌 #TENvsHOU #Texans https://t.co/TDKGrcfKYt
— NFL (@NFL) October 1, 2017
Welcome back, @Will_Fuller7!#WeAreTexans pic.twitter.com/ydElJNVOXe
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) October 1, 2017
MARCUS MARIOTA WILL TAKE IT HIMSELF! #TitanUp #TENvsHOU https://t.co/kl4bLfymoN
— NFL (@NFL) October 1, 2017
Look at the effort! #TitanUp
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) October 1, 2017
Mariota dives his way into the end zone! #TENvsHOU pic.twitter.com/zHXlxUP81C
.@deshaunwatson will take it himself!#DW4 #WeAreTexans pic.twitter.com/5KwCjo7NXQ
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) October 1, 2017
.@Will_Fuller7 finds the end zone... again!#WeAreTexans pic.twitter.com/wgzN7H6MtV
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) October 1, 2017
.@deshaunwatson's 5th TD of the day goes to @millertime_6! pic.twitter.com/8WaUs3qjrF
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) October 1, 2017
Next: Ranking the 25 best NFL games of Sept. 2017
The Titans have looked like the class of the division through three weeks. However, a game against the Texans, who’ve had a stranglehold of the AFC South in recent years, is a great way of proving themselves. That’s the hope for this road trip if you’re Tennessee.