Monday Night Football Picks: Tennessee Titans at Houston Texans

Houston Analysis: Teams coming off their bye week and playing at home usually play well. This is the case for the Houston Texans who took week 10 off after previously giving Indianapolis all they wanted. After some early season struggles, Houston has played respectably against the run. Matt Schaub has established himself as a top NFL quarterback and along with Andre Johnson, he has made the Texans one of the best passing offenses in the NFL. Steve Slaton will return as the starting running back. Clearly Slaton is the best running back on the team, so this makes them better. While his fumble problems can't be completely ignored, I think he'll get passed it and hold onto the football on Monday Night.

Titans Analysis: The Tennessee Titans have won their last 3 games in a row. Quarterback Vince Young deserves a lot of the credit as he's done just enough to allow running back Chris Johnson to carry the offense. Tennessee has also benefited from the quarterbacks they have played against in the last 3 games. David Garrard, Alex Smith, and Trent Edwards are not exactly the cream of the crop. The Titans still remain extremely vulnerable against the pass, ranking dead last in touchdown passes given up and 31st in passing yards against per game.

Head to Head Analysis:
Houston's biggest strength is its passing offense. Tennessee's biggest weakness is its passing defense and good quarterbacks have exposed them all year long. I see that trend continuing on Monday Night Football. Houston will not be able to stop running back Chris Johnson but will do a better job on Monday Night Football then they did in Week 2. The Texans haven't forgotten how Johnson shredded them in their last match up and will make it priority #1 to do a better job at stopping him this time around. The Texans defensive packages will call for Vince Young to put the football in the air. Against single coverage, I think he will make some plays, but in the end it will not be enough to keep up with Schaub. I pick the Texans to win in a shootout, 31-20.

Pick: Texans -4
Pick: Over 48

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