By JASON MARTIN (@JMartZone – September 16, 2018)

The Tennessee Titans, without their starting quarterback, both starting tackles, their stud TE…no sweat, right? Well, not exactly. It took some bad football from Houston early, some inventive, almost high-school like offense from Matt LaFleur’s offense, and an inexplicably terrible finish for Deshaun Watson on the final play of the game, but the Titans got it done.

Let’s not mince words. This was a must win. It was one of the more important Week 2 games you’ll see, because of what’s to come next, namely a trip to Jacksonville and a date with the World Champions. This was such an integral matchup, not just because it was in-division, but because you let the Miami opportunity slip away in the rain and the lightning and the inconsistent play from Marcus Mariota.

When you consider what was against the Titans just on their own depth chart, this is a success no matter how you slice it. You win the game. You’re 1-1, and you somehow did enough with Blaine Gabbert at QB to get the job done. Here are my Big 6 Takeaways from the victory at Nissan against the now 0-2 Houston Texans.

CREATIVITY EARLY

The fake punt that became a 66-yard touchdown throw from Kevin Byard (yes you read that right) to Dane Cruikshank was an easy call, because the Texans forgot to cover the gunners. It was insanely easy, despite being so ridiculous. It was as unsurprising a result as a surprising play can be. If you were watching in the stadium and not on television, you could see the rookie was standing there with no one in front of him.

LaFleur put the ball in Derrick Henry’s hands in the Wildcat, and he just chewed up positive yardage and moved it down the field. It worked, and then Gabbert came back in, found Corey Davis for a first down and then hit Taywan Taylor for his second career touchdown.

When you don’t have Mariota and you’re down Lewan, Conklin, and even Dennis Smith, you’ve got to think outside the usual confines of the box, and early in the football game, that’s what we saw. It was entertaining and fun, and the Texans flat out weren’t ready for it. The result was a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.

PASS RUSH MANAGES TO FLUMMOX WATSON

Harold Landry played great in his first regular season start. The rookie sacked Deshaun Watson, but you could see that 58 jersey in proper spots more often than not. He wasn’t alone. Jurrell Casey had a whale of a day, sacking Watson twice and forcing a fumble as he knocked the ball out of the Houston quarterback’s hand on another play. That’s not to speak of at least two other occasions where Casey forced Watson to get rid of it before he wanted to do so.

Kamalei Correa also notched a sack, his second in as many games in a Titans uniform, and although he had an up-and-down debut against Miami, he looked much more poised today. He also brings an obvious energy on the field, but in general, the Tennessee defense showed up ready to do whatever it could to help the handicapped offense, especially in its attempts to keep Deshaun Watson uncomfortable.

All in all, four sacks for the Titans defense to go along with five first half knockdowns. They were in 4’s face all afternoon long, at least until it appeared they ran out of gas in the fourth quarter. Deshaun had much more time late than he did early, but the effort proved to be just enough to hold onto the win.

ADOREE JACKSON AND KEVIN BYARD

We already knew what Byard was, because we saw that movie last year. The kid is smart, he’s aware, and he’s a beast in the Titans secondary. We saw flashes from Jackson last year, but we also saw growing pains. Last week, Adoree did some good things, but was also dinged up on a punt return. Today, he intercepted Watson on a moon shot intended for DeAndre Hopkins, and it was a TOUGH catch to make.

Jackson also ripped the football away from a Texans WR by the right sideline and took it to the house, but the play was blown dead on a hold, which was questionable as…you know…it doesn’t happen that way. Regardless, Adoree was everywhere he needed to be, helping Byard numerous times on double coverage assignments to neutralize Hopkins.

What you want to see from a second year player in that spot is progress and intelligence. Jackson already had the latter, but we’ve clearly seen the former enough to feel awfully good about him going forward. As for Byard, again, he did what he does, including throw a 66-yard touchdown to a rookie gunner on a fake punt.

VRABEL HAS STONES

Wait, he’s going for it on 4th and inches from his own 32 up 14-0? That was insane. The Titans got it, but I’ll go ahead and tell you that’s one you don’t want to see again if you’re a fan. I like aggression as much as the next guy, but that was ludicrous. It also ended up meaning nothing as the next series resulted in a punt anyway. The risk wasn’t worth it.

That said, Mike Vrabel settled in and coached a much cleaner football game. His sideline demeanor was positive throughout the game, almost too much so, but the first half generally felt like, “What do we have to lose?” No Mariota, Lewan…etc, so to win a game like that the Titans were going to go for broke and die fighting.

In fact, Tennessee began to falter when they began to play more traditional Titans offensive football. What we may have learned is this team needs to be a little bonkers in the play calling and the risk-taking in order to maximize potential. When it got conservative, it was a slog to watch and the success dropped off a cliff.

DERRICK HENRY ONLY LOOKS LIKE A POWER BACK

Henry looks like Sasquatch in the backfield, but he runs like Yogi Bear when he SEES Sasquatch. He doesn’t truck people the way you’d expect based on his size, and there’s something to be said about Alabama running backs. Generally speaking, they are used to having holes a mile wide or an OL in front of them that doesn’t just beat, but manhandles opposing defensive fronts.

What it means is we think Bama backs are more devastating than they are. The reason it’s such a RB factory is because of that line. It doesn’t mean these guys can’t play, but it does mean Eddie Lacy and Derrick Henry and those kinds of backs aren’t going to dominate the way they did wearing crimson and cream. Kenyan Drake is shiftier and made more guys miss in college, and thus we’re seeing him succeed in Miami because his skill set is more HIS OWN than a byproduct of everyone else.

It’s not a perfect description, because unquestionably, Henry deservedly won the Heisman. But through two weeks, Dion Lewis is the scarier guy for opponents to deal with, and as he becomes more useful in the passing game, that should only increase. 18 carries for 56 yards for Derrick Henry, who is going to become stashed on more fantasy benches each week. Neither Titans back had a great day, but Henry isn’t the bellcow. Just four more totes than Lewis this week.

HOUSTON ISN’T VERY GOOD

The Texans OL was not good early in this game, and Watson had to avoid at least three more sacks to manage only being dropped thrice in Nashville. Will Fuller and DeAndre Hopkins both did what you’d expect, and Fuller benefits mightily as Hopkins attracts a double team and massive attention downfield. Deshaun finished with a decent day, but he’s still shaking off some rust. That said, the Titans surrendered 437 total yards, which is…problematic.

The Texans defense was fairly solid, but not otherworldly. JJ Watt made some plays, but he wasn’t the disruptor he’s capable of being. The Titans surrendered just one sack against Houston, and although Jadeveon Clowney was inactive, it wasn’t anything to write home about from Bill O’Brien’s defense, or his football team as a whole.

What we may have learned today is that Jacksonville is the clear frontrunner in the division. Indianapolis looked solid on the road in Washington, but they still lack in a lot of positions, Tennessee has major quarterback issues right now, and Houston just doesn’t look right. Thus, the Jags defense is the primary factor that we can all trust.

That said, Titans are 1-0 in the division and did it without a LOT of key guys they’ll get back. It was an optimistic day, even though the win was in doubt until the bitter end.

OVERALL

Titans 1-1 instead of 0-2 with a trip to Jacksonville and then a home game against the Eagles, where it now appears Carson Wentz will be back on the field. Considering the Bills are on deck afterward, and they look awful, maybe you’re 2-3 before dealing with a maybe pretty good Ravens team and a good Chargers team.

Going 0-2 screamed a probable 0-4 to me. 1-1 could mean 2-3, maybe even 3-2 if things break correctly. That’s a significant difference. It’s hard to overstate how big this win was, and it took everything the Titans had to get it. Now, they should get Mariota back for the showdown with the Jags. Hopefully, he’ll be accompanied by a few other inactives from Sunday.

20-17 and Watson’s poor decision to drown 0:17 off the clock before finding Hopkins just outside the red zone was a nice gift for Tennessee fans. That was a terrible choice and it ended the game. You win how you can in the NFL, and with everything pushing back against a Titans W, Vrabel’s squad got it done.

Surprising, but it has to feel good for everybody wearing two-toned blue in the Music City.