Texans–Titans rivalry
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The Texans–Titans rivalry is a professional
American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
rivalry in the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL) between the
Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...
and Tennessee Titans. The Texans–Titans rivalry is an intense rivalry, pitting the Tennessee Titans (formerly based in Houston as the
Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 as ...
) with Houston's present-day team, the Texans. The 2002
expansion Expansion may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''L'Expansion'', a French monthly business magazine * ''Expansion'' (album), by American jazz pianist Dave Burrell, released in 2004 * ''Expansions'' (McCoy Tyner album), 1970 * ''Expansio ...
and conference realignment by the NFL put a new team into Houston. With the expansion Texans in place, the NFL's realignment created the
AFC South The American Football Conference – Southern Division or AFC South is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It was created before the 2002 NFL season, 2002 s ...
and put the two teams together as division rivals. During the 2000s, the Titans dominated the rivalry before the Texans would gain the upperhand in the 2010s. The Titans currently lead the series 23–21. The two teams have not met in the postseason.


History


Origins

The roots can be planted back to 1996, when the former
Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 as ...
relocated to
Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
and rebranded the franchise as the Titans in 1999. Houston was awarded a new franchise in 2002 dubbed the Texans, and fans have quarreled over who was the better team in Houston. Another earlier roots for the rivalry is knowing that Tennessee was a common ancestral place for White Texan settlers back in the 1830s. Additionally, both states have large
country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
scenes.


2010s

The bitterness of the rivalry has led to fistfights between the teams during games. One notable fight was on November 28, 2010, when Texans receiver Andre Johnson and Titans cornerback
Cortland Finnegan Cortland Temujin Finnegan (born February 2, 1984) is a former American football cornerback. He played college football at Samford, and was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the seventh round of the 2006 NFL Draft. Finnegan also played for the ...
exchanged blows after a play and were ejected. The Texans won that game 20–0. The rivalry became more competitive in 2011 as both teams were in the hunt for the division title most of the year. In Week 7, the Titans hosted the Texans in a match-up for the division lead and was the home field favorite while Houston was coming off of a 2-game losing streak. The Texans won 41–7 and went on to win the division that year. In Week 17, Houston hosted Tennessee; the Titans had to win to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Titans won on a botched two-point conversion try by the Texans, who were trying for the win. However, they were eliminated from postseason contention due to the Denver Broncos losing against the Kansas City Chiefs 7–3. If Tennessee had qualified to play in the
NFL playoffs The National Football League (NFL) playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the regular season to determine the NFL champion. Currently, seven teams from each of the league's two conferences qualify for the playoffs. A tie-breaki ...
, they would have played the Texans in the AFC Wild-Card round. In 2018, the Texans won the AFC South at 11–5, and split with Tennessee. The Texans would play either the Titans or Colts in the upcoming Wild Card game, depending on the Sunday Night Football winner between the two. The Colts won 33–17, eliminating the Titans from the playoffs at 9–7 and setting up a wild-card match between the Texans and Colts. Had the Titans won, it would've been the first meeting in the playoffs between the two teams, similar to 2011. In 2019, the Texans Week 15 road game against Titans marked the first time that both teams were 8–5 at the same time. The Texans beat the Titans 24–21, and in Week 16 the Texans won the AFC South after beating the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...
23–20. In the final week of regular season, the Titans faced the Texans on the road. The Titans needed to win the game or a
Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...
loss against the
Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...
in order to make the playoffs. Behind a 211-yard, three-touchdown day from running back
Derrick Henry Derrick Lamar Henry Jr. (born January 4, 1994) is an American football running back for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). His imposing rushing game and larger stature than the average running back earned him the nickna ...
and the Texans resting starters, the Titans won 35–14 to clinch the sixth seed in the playoffs.


2020s

The most competitive games in the history of the rivalry came in 2020. On October 18 the Texans traveled to
Nissan Stadium Nissan Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Owned by the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, it is primarily used for football and is the home field of the Tennessee Titans of the Natio ...
under interim coach
Romeo Crennel Romeo Crennel (born June 18, 1947) is a former American football coach, who was the senior advisor for football performance for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). A former long-time coaching assistant to Bill Parcells, Cre ...
, taking over for the fired Bill O'Brien. The Texans erased a 21–7 gap to lead 36–29, but the Titans stormed down and scored with seven seconds left. In overtime the Titans got first possession and advanced 82 yards on six plays ending in a direct snap touchdown run by
Derrick Henry Derrick Lamar Henry Jr. (born January 4, 1994) is an American football running back for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). His imposing rushing game and larger stature than the average running back earned him the nickna ...
. In the second meeting of the 2020 season,
Sam Sloman Samuel Cole Sloman (born September 19, 1997) is an American football placekicker for the Vegas Vipers of the XFL (2020), XFL. He played college football at Miami RedHawks football, Miami University, and in 2019 he made 86.7% of his field goal at ...
kicked a 37-yard field goal that bounced off the right upright and in to give Tennessee the 41–38 win. This was the highest-scoring game (79 points) in the history of the rivalry after the previous game set the record at 78 points.


Connections between the teams


Season-by-season results

, - , , style=", , style=", Titans
13–3 , style=", Titans
17–10 , Titans
2–0 , Texans join the NFL as an expansion team. Both teams placed in the
AFC South The American Football Conference – Southern Division or AFC South is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It was created before the 2002 NFL season, 2002 s ...
following 2002 NFL realignment. Titans make first return to Houston since leaving as the Oilers in 1996. , - , , style=", , style=", Titans
27–24 , style=", Titans
38–17 , Titans
4–0 , , - , , style=", , style=", Texans
31–21 , style=", Texans
20–10 , Titans
4–2 , Texans sweep the Titans for the first time. , - , , style=", , style=", Titans
34–20 , style=", Titans
13–10 , Titans
6–2 , Titans go 4–12 on the season and Texans go 2–14, resulting in top-3 Draft picks for each team , - , , style=", , style=", Titans
26–20(OT) , style=", Titans
28–22 , Titans
8–2 , , - , , style=", , style=", Titans
38–36 , style=", Titans
31–28 , Titans
10–2 , , - , , Tie 1–1 , style=", Texans
13–12 , style=", Titans
31–12 , Titans
11–3 , Titans win 7 straight meetings (2005–08) , - , , Tie 1–1 , style=", Titans
20–17 , style=", Texans
34–31 , Titans
12–4 , , - , - , , Tie 1–1 , style=", Texans
20–0 , style=", Titans
31–17 , Titans
13–5 ,
Cortland Finnegan Cortland Temujin Finnegan (born February 2, 1984) is a former American football cornerback. He played college football at Samford, and was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the seventh round of the 2006 NFL Draft. Finnegan also played for the ...
, Andre Johnson fight at game in Houston , - , , Tie 1–1 , style=", Titans
23–22 , style=", Texans
41–7 , Titans
14–6 , , - , , style=", , style=", Texans
38–14 , style=", Texans
24–10 , Titans
14–8 , , - , , Tie 1–1 , style=", Texans
30–24(OT) , style=", Titans
16–10 , Titans
15–9 , , - , , style=", , style=", Texans
45–21 , style=", Texans
30–16 , Titans
15–11 , , - , , style=", , style=", Texans
20–6 , style=", Texans
34–6 , Titans
15–13 , , - , , Tie 1–1 , style=", Texans
27–20 , style=", Titans
24–17 , Titans
16–14 , , - , , Tie 1–1 , style=", Texans
57–14 , style=", Titans
24–13 , Titans
17–15 , Texans' 57–14 win is the biggest blowout in the series history (43 points) , - , , Tie 1–1 , style=", Texans
34–17 , style=", Titans
20–17 , Titans
18–16 , , - , , Tie 1–1 , style=", Titans
35–14 , style=", Texans
24–21 , Titans
19–17 , Titans clinch final AFC Wild Card berth in their away win in week 17. , - , - , , style=", , style=", Titans
41–38 , style=", Titans
42–36(OT) , Titans
21–17 , Titans clinch AFC South in Houston in week 17. First time since 2007 that the Titans swept the Texans. In Nashville, Titans accumulate 607 total yards, their highest ever in a game in franchise history. Two highest-scoring games in rivalry , - , , Tie 1–1 , style=", Titans
28–25 , style=", Texans
22–13 , Titans
22–18 , Titans clinch AFC's top seed with win in Houston. , - , , Tie 1–1 , style=", Titans
17–10 , style=", Texans
19–14 , Titans
23–19 , , - , , style=", , style=", Texans
26–3 , style=", Texans
19–16(OT) , Titans
23–21 , , - , Regular season , style=", Titans 23–21 , Tie 11–11 , Titans 12–10 , , -


References


External links


Texans-Titans head-to-head record
{{DEFAULTSORT:Texans-Titans rivalry NFL rivalries 2002 establishments in the United States Titans rivalry Texans rivalry Tennessee Titans rivalries Houston Texans rivalries