2019 NFL picks, score predictions for Week 17

Tennessee Titans (8-7) at Houston Texans (10-5)

Sunday, December 29, 4:25PM ET

Right now, the Tennessee Titans control their own destiny. Even if the Steelers beat the Ravens, the Titans can still secure the sixth seed in the NFC with a win over the Houston Texans. Unfortunately, I don’t see that happening in the final week of the regular season.

Why? Well for starters, the Texans will come into this hoping to improve their seeding ahead of the first round of the playoffs. Although the fourth seed seems most likely at this point, an upset of the Kansas City Chiefs by the Los Angeles Chargers would open the door for the Texans to steal the third seed. Plus, wouldn’t they love the opportunity to slam the door on their divisional rivals?

The Titans will come to town with dreams of the postseason on their minds. They’ll be playing some motivated football. While that may be the case, I don’t see them supplanting the Texans — especially on the road. They dropped the ball against them two weeks ago with home-field advantage, and now they’ve got an even larger hurdle to clear.

Deshaun Watson makes easy work of the Titans secondary, putting up monster numbers while DeAndre Hopkins does his usual thing. Once time starts to become a factor, the Texans ride Carlos Hyde and bump their AFC South foes from the running.

Prediction: Texans win 31-23