Throwback Game of the Week - TEN @ HOU

Week 11: Tennessee Titans at Houston Texans

There’s something that runs far deeper than being division rivals when it comes to a game between the Tennessee Titans and Houston Texans. At least that may be the case for fans in Houston. That city was home to the Titans franchise from its start in the AFL as the Houston Oilers in 1960 through the 1996 season before the franchise relocated to Tennessee. Fortunately for Houston football fans, the Texans were born and began play in the NFL in 2002.

The Texans arrival on the NFL scene coincided with the league’s realignment. As a result, the Houston club found its place in the AFC South alongside the Titans. Since that time, it has been a rather lopsided series with Tennessee owning an 11-4 advantage.

First Time:
Nov. 10, 2002 –Tennessee quarterback Steve McNair threw a pair of touchdowns to lead the Titans to their fourth straight win. His touchdown strikes included a 13-yard pass to Derrick Mason and a 17-yard touchdown throw to Shad Meier as Tennessee built a 17-3 lead before turning to the run. The Titans won, 17-10.

Last Time:
Sept. 20, 2009 – The Texans stunned the Titans 34-31 as Tennessee started the season 0-2 for the first time since 2006. Houston was led by Matt Schaub who threw for 357 yards and four touchdowns. Wide receiver Andre Johnson had 10 catches for 149 yards and 2 TDs.

Hall of Fame Members
The Titans/Oilers franchise has seven long-time members of its organization with bronze busts inside the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The most recent enshrinee from the club was offensive lineman Bruce Matthews in 2007. There are also four other enshrinees who were with the team for brief stints of their careers.

The Houston Texans are not yet represented in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Enshrinees by team>>>

Records found in the NFL Record Book
Not all records are good ones in the NFL record book. The Titans hold the distinction of being the most penalized team in one game in NFL history. Tennessee had 212 yards of penalties against the Baltimore Ravens on Oct. 10, 1999. Surprisingly, Tennessee was still able to squeak out a 14-11 victory despite the penalty yardage. The only other team in NFL history to have 200 or more penalty yards was the Cleveland Browns in a game against the Chicago Bears in 1951.

The Texans have not left much of a mark on the NFL Record Book since joining the NFL in 2002. However, that inaugural season did include one NFL record. The expansion Texans punted the ball 116 times to eclipse the mark of 114 punts set by the Chicago Bears in 1981.

Throwback Game
Dec. 10, 2006

Titans linebacker Keith Bulluck described Young’s overtime winner. “He couldn't have scripted it any better. I've never heard of a walk-off touchdown, but that's what he had."

This Week 14 matchup had no playoff implications as both teams were all but mathematically eliminated from the post-season. But that didn’t matter much to the players on either club as they stepped onto the field at Reliant Stadium in Houston.

The game carried special importance to Titans rookie quarterback Vince Young who was playing in front of family and friends in his hometown. Fittingly, it was Young who won the game for Tennessee in dramatic fashion.

Houston built a 17-13 lead with just over 12 minutes to play when Demarcus Faggins’ interception set up a Kris Brown 49-yard field goal. But Young rallied the Titans on a huge 15-play, 88-yard drive that included two critical runs by the quarterback on third down conversions. Travis Henry’s two-yard run with just under four minutes remaining in regulation gave the Titans a 20-17 lead. Houston, led by QB David Carr, moved downfield and put Brown in range for a 46-yard field goal with 2:09 left to tie the game at 20-20 and force overtime.

Tennessee won the coin toss. Five plays later, on a third-and-14 at the Houston 39 yard-line, Young dropped back to throw. Houston opted not to fall into pass coverage instead they sent extra pass rushers after the rookie. Young quickly eyed the opportunity to exploit the Texans’ scheme and took off running. He ran 39 yards to the end zone to give Tennessee its fourth straight victory. It was the Titans’ third consecutive come-from-behind game.

The exciting performance by Young that day may have been the final brush stroke on what turned out to be a Pro Bowl season for the rookie.

Game Program Cover | Official Gamebook (PDF)
 

More Texans & Titans on Profootballhof.com
Team histories
Houston | Tennessee

Photos
Oilers/Titans running backs
Titans/Oilers Hall of Famers
Texans’ first-rounders
Expansion Texans debut in 2002 HOF Game

Artifacts
 Eddie George’s jersey from final game as “Oilers”
Andre Johnson’s memorable ’08 season
Tossing coin from Texans’ first-ever game
Football carried by the “Tyler Rose”

Some other stories on Texans & Titans
Chris Johnson made history against Texans in Week 2
Kris Brown boots three 50-yards in Texans win
Titans’ Rob Bironas kicks 8 FGs against Texans
Oilers and Raiders score 70 points in a half
Andre Johnson’s lights it up in 2008
Campbell racks up 200 yards in a game four times in 1980