2023 NFL picks, score predictions for Week 15

Houston Texans (7-6) @ Tennessee Titans (5-8)

Sunday, December 17, 1:00 PM ET

The Houston Texans were absolutely destroyed on Sunday against the New York Jets, but this young team was due for a letdown. Unfortunately, it just had to happen against Zach Wilson…

And what’s worse for the Texans is the fact that they lost CJ Stroud in the process, among a number of other players. The loss of CJ Stroud would likely be insurmountable for the Texans over the longer haul, but we’ll have to see if he’s able to clear concussion protocol in time to play against the Titans on Sunday. If not, it’ll be Davis Mills giving it a shot against Mike Vrabel’s Titans, and that could be problematic.

The Texans had been getting MVP-level play out of Stroud most of the season, but after a hard-fought win against the Broncos in Week 13, you sort of felt like things might be cooling off in the near future. And Robert Saleh’s New York Jets came out and had arguably their best game of the entire 2023 season against DeMeco Ryans’s crew.

This might be a weird matchup for the Houston Texans, especially if the Texans don’t have CJ Stroud available. I might actually take the Titans, regardless of CJ Stroud's health, at home in this one. They are currently two-point favorites.

Prediction: Titans win 21-17