After falling to the Texans in one of their worst performances of the 2021 season, the Tennessee Titans returned the favor, doing just enough to stave off a furious second-half rally from Houston in their regular-season finale to win 28-25 at NRG Stadium on Sunday.
The victory clinched the AFC’s top seed and first-round bye for the Titans, who will now have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
Tennessee will hold the conference’s No. 1 seed for the first time since 2008.
The Titans carried a 21-0 lead at halftime and had the opportunity to put the game away with a touchdown to start the third quarter. But they sputtered offensively to start the second half. It was a three-and-out, marked by an overthrow by quarterback Ryan Tannehill to Julio Jones, who may have had a touchdown. Then another three-and-out, this time notable for a Tannehill fumble that was recovered by running back D’Onta Foreman. And another three-and-out. Three straight punts.
