The Tennessee Titans disaster of a 2024 season will mercifully come to an end on Sunday. The team will welcome the Texans into town to close the season.
Per BetMGM, the Texans are 1-point favorites and the over/under is set at 38.5 points. The Titans enter the contest with a 3-13 record while the Texans are 9-7.
While it may seem like there’s not much for the Titans to play for here, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Now, let’s go over five things to know ahead of this Week 18 game.
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Draft position implications are huge
The Tennessee Titans could be on the verge of earning their highest draft pick since at least 2015. If the Titans lose and the Patriots win against the Bills, the Titans would own the No. 1 pick.
However, if the Titans stumble into a win, the team could fall all the way down to the No. 7 pick depending on what else happens in the league. Therefore, this game could end up being franchise-altering for the Titans.
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Texans already clinched the AFC South
The Houston Texans have already clinched the AFC South. That has more to do with the rest of the division being horrible than it does with the Texans being great, but still.
This means the Texans don’t have much to play for. Sure, they’d love to beat the Titans and get revenge, but that’s not worth risking injury ahead of the playoffs. Regardless of what happens here, the Texans are champions of the AFC South.
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Titans could potentially sweep the Texans
The Titans surprisingly took down the Texans in Houston last month. The team has not won a game since then while the Texans are 2-2 since.
Considering the Texans have already clinched the AFC South, the team may decide to rest its starters. This means the Titans have a decent shot of beating the Texans again, sweeping the season series with their bitter rivals.
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Titans busting out the Oiler throwbacks
The Titans will wear the Houston Oilers throwback uniforms for the first time in 2024 in Week 18. The team debuted the modernized throwbacks last season but will only wear them once in 2024.
The Titans played the Texans in Houston last season wearing these throwbacks and lost. There’s no love lost between these teams and it’s no coincidence that the Titans chose this game to wear them.
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Titans could go 1-5 in AFC South games
The Titans are on the precipice of going 1-5 in AFC South games in 2024. This is a pitiful showing for Brian Callahan in his first season at the helm.
Losing divisional games is a surefire way to put you in the bad graces of fans. The Titans got swept by the Jaguars and the Colts this season, and that’s just unacceptable.
In this case, however, Titans’ fans might rather go 1-5 in the division than sweep the Texans and get a worse draft pick.