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Houston Texans at Tennessee Titans Odds: Spreads, Totals, Lines, Prediction and Analysis in Week 18

Houston Texans at Tennessee Titans Odds: Spreads, Totals, Lines, Prediction and Analysis in Week 18

Written by on January 3, 2025

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Houston Texans at Tennessee Titans Odds | If the 2024 NFL regular season had ended after Week 17, then the Tennessee Titans would hold the second overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft.

They were sitting in fourth before the Week 17 action, but their loss to Jacksonville, combined with unlikely victories by Las Vegas and the Giants, moved them up to second.

If they lose to Houston on Sunday, they would stay in second, but they could move up to the top overall pick if New England gets by Buffalo.

But what if they win? There are nine NFL teams with four or fewer victories right now, which means that there is still a lot of room for movement in the draft order in Week 18.

 

Houston Texans at Tennessee Titans Odds – Week 18 NFL 2024/25 Season

NFL Spreads and Totals: Tennessee -1.5 / O/U 37
Moneylines: Houston +104 / Tennessee -127
When: Sunday, January 5, 2025, 1:00 pm ET
Where: Nissan Stadium, Nashville
TV: CBS
Radio: KILT 100.3 FM Houston / WGFX 104.5 FM Nashville
Live Stream: Hulu

 

If Tennessee beats Houston, the Titans could fall all the way to seventh in draft order. According to the Jimmy Johnson trade chart, as NFL expert Mike Herndon pointed out on X, sliding from the second to the seventh pick would be the same thing as having the 14th overall pick and seeing that draft choice disappear.

The Titans already gave away their third-round pick in the L’Jarius Sneed trade, so beating Houston might feel great at the time, but it would make reloading for 2025 even harder.

The Texans are limping into Nissan Stadium after taking a 31-2 hide-tanning at the hands of Baltimore last week.

Demeco Ryans, Houston Texans NFL

They’re locked into the fourth seed on the AFC side of the bracket, win or lose, so they could give their starters some rest. Head coach DeMeco Ryans said, “I mentioned to all our guys that everybody has to be ready to go. Everybody will be out there playing, and then we’ll see how the game goes.”

This could be code for a game that looks like a preseason matchup, with the starters out there for the first quarter, or the first half, before the bench comes in. How should you handle this in your sports betting? Read on to get our insights.

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Houston Texans at Tennessee Titans Odds, Final Score and Prediction in Week 18

This is the quintessential meaningless Week 18 game, which makes sports betting on this game a bit tricky. We have a team locked into its postseason slot and trying to keep as many players healthy as possible – while also trying to build some kind of momentum after taking an ugly loss in Week 17 – in the Houston Texans.

Will Levis

We have a team that lost to three-win Jacksonville last week, has moved on from its quarterback of the future (in Will Levis), and could benefit much more in the 2025 draft with a loss in Week 18 in the Tennessee Titans. The Titans have a five-game losing streak, but their last win came against these same Houston Texans, so if they somehow win, they would complete the season sweep over the champions of their division, but they could take a significant hit in their draft prospects at the same time.

DeMeco Ryans

Ryans is all about team culture, and we saw the Texans take huge strides in that area in 2023. He turned around a team that was burning through head coaches and led it to an emphatic division title and a trouncing of the Cleveland Browns in the first round of the playoffs. The Texans’ 2023 season ended in Kansas City, but the Texans gave the Chiefs all they wanted in that loss.

Joe Mixon and Stefon Diggs

Going into 2024, the Texans added tailback Mixon and wide receiver Diggs and looked, on paper, like a team that would steamroll the division again and perhaps make a run all the way through the AFC playoff bracket.

Injuries

They have torpedoed those visions, and now the team is in the playoffs primarily because of how bad the other three AFC South teams are. These are shades of the Bill O’Brien era, when the Texans kept winning division titles in an awful AFC South, only to get thumped in the playoffs. I see the Texans winning this game, 16-9, but I’m not betting heavy here at all because of all of these uncertainties.

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Analysis of Houston Texans

This is a team that has feasted on subpar competition. Against winning teams, the Texans are just 1-5, which makes then 8-2 against teams at or below .500. Their 4-1 record against their AFC South bunkmates includes season sweeps of Jacksonville and Indianapolis – but also a 32-27 home loss to these same Titans on November 24.

Last Game vs Titans

Back then, though, Will Levis was still leading the Tennessee offense. He threw for 278 yards, including a 70-yard scoring strike to Chig Okonkwo in the fourth quarter that put his team ahead to stay. Houston kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn missed a 28-yard field goal attempt that would have tied the game in the last two minutes. The last two Tennessee points came on an ignominious sack of C.J. Stroud in the end zone.

The Streak

The Texans have a 10-game road winning streak against AFC South foes, and the Titans have gone just 1-7 in their last eight games, straight up. In their last 15 Sunday games, Tennessee has only covered the spread once. However, Houston has a six-game winning streak against the spread when playing Tennessee after a home loss.

Home setbacks have motivated the Texans under DeMeco Ryans; they’ve scored the first touchdown in six straight games after a home loss, won the first quarter in five of their last six games after a home loss, and won the first half in eight straight games after a home loss.

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Analysis of Tennessee Titans

Tennessee’s running attack found room to operate in the Titans’ 20-13 loss to Jacksonville, as the Titans ran for 159 yards and picked up 5.0 yards per carry. Tyjae Spears picked up 23 yards on his first carry of the game and had broken the 100-yard barrier briefly until two negative plays saw him finish the day with 95 yards, still the best rushing day of his career.

Running Yards

Baltimore was able to run for 251 yards against Houston last week, so there should be room for Spears and Tony Pollard (who missed Week 17 with a foot injury) to operate. The passing game is in dry dock right now, as Mason Rudolph is driving the bus until the Titans find a franchise quarterback. For a variety of reasons, the team has apparently moved on from Kentucky phenom Will Levis as their signal-caller. Levis received justified criticism for holding onto the ball too long and taking too many sacks, and Rudolph has come on to lead the Titans to two of their three 300-yard pass performances this season.

Take the Titans

Another reason to take the Titans here is the fact that, even when the Houston starters are on the field, there is a massive skill vacuum. Wide receivers Tank Dell and Stefon Diggs are on the shelf for the rest of the season. So are safety Jimmie Ward and nickel back Jalen Pitre. Tight end Dalton Schultz hasn’t really lived up to that big contract he signed when he left Dallas to come down I-45 and play for the Texans.

So it’s Nico Collins catching passes and Joe Mixon running the ball for quarterback C.J. Stroud. Those three players must make it healthy to the wild-card round for the Texans to have any sort of chance, so expect them to be bundled away as soon as Houston shows they can move the ball down the field and score against Tennessee on Sunday.

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