HOUSTON — The Houston Texans are entering Week 18 of the 2021 season with a record of 4-12. And unlike their opponent in the 11-5 Tennessee Titans, the Texans have nothing at stake during Sunday’s season finale at NRG Stadium.
Houston can play the role of spoilers against their AFC South rival, with the Titans in a position to wrap up the top seed in the conference as a result of a victory.
Trying to prevent the Titans from ending their season on a sour note for the second consecutive year should be enough motivation for the Texans. But coach David Culley has his eyes set on a more prominent task other than attempting to avoid a loss to close out the 2021 campaign.
“I want to see more consistency from us,” Culley said. “We did not play very well [Sunday] for 60 minutes in either phase. We had our moments, but we didn’t finish well at the end of the game.”
Culley continued: “It’s the last game of the year for us. We want to go out with a win. Obviously, they’re playing for homefield advantage. I think regardless of that, it doesn’t really matter. We’re going to play the game just like we would — whether they were playing for homefield or not.”
In a season highlighted by turmoil both on and off the field, Culley said each player that will suit up for the final time in 2021 wants to end the season off the right way.
According to Culley, Houston must recapture the momentum that led to a two-game win streak prior to their 23-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
During their two-game win streak, the Texans consistently found the end zone by averaging 35.5 points while posting an average of 359.0 total yards. In the loss at Levi’s Stadium against the 49ers, Culley felt it was the Texans own doing, as they ended the game with one touchdown and 222 total yards.
“I think the most important thing right now for us is to go out and play the game the right way — play like we played against the Chargers, where we played complementarily,” Culley said. “Winning is good for the psyche. I think also it’s not when you lose, it’s how you lose that’s very important. It’s you not being the enemy, and Sunday we were the enemy, and we don’t want to be the enemy this coming week against the Titans.”
The last time the Texans and the Titans faced each other, Houston came away with a 22-13 win to cease an eight-game losing skid. The Texans’ defense took advantage of the wounded Titans, who shelved a number of their offensive players due to injury, by recording five takeaways in the win at Nissan Stadium.