The season is coming to a close and the implications are enormous. If I previewed that sentence for you before Week 1 about what Week 18 what look like you might think the Titans were in contention for a playoff spot. However, the exact opposite is true. The Titans are firmly in contention for the top pick in the draft. Today’s the day that the Titans can either solidify a top 2 or slide down to a top 7 pick. As stated, the implications are enormous.

Earlier this week Coach Callahan stated that he’d “use a mix of both Levis and Rudolph in the final regular season game against the Texans.” That’s certainly an interesting strategy given the predicament the Titans face themselves with. The Titans obviously aren’t sold on either QB as they’ve both struggled to win games — however, that’s not all on the QB given the season the Titans just had. Playing both QBs and how that’s employed has yet to be seen and I expect Callahan won’t give that information out regardless. As for the offense, starting two quarterbacks will make things a bit more difficult than usual for the Titans. Callahan has already mentioned that Levis will start the game. Levis has a unique opportunity to show that he has a future in the NFL. Whether that be as a journeyman QB or a starter again this game might be the definitive answer to that question. As for the RB position, (bad news for the tank) Tony Pollard will make his way back since leaving the game early against the Colts. The rush for Pollard to come back from injury may be influenced by the incentives that Pollard has to meet in which he stands to gain $500k if he hits 83 yards and 2 TDs against the Texans. To make it even more dramatic the forecast is predicting cold showers in the Nashville area. That might put a damper on Calvin Ridley who has stated he wanted to hit 1k yards for the third time in his career and first in back-to-back seasons. This game will come down eventually to the Titans starters against Texans backups. I don’t expect the Texans to play their starters for very long. Sam Warren of the Houston Chronicle wrote about the Texans strategy of utilizing players for Week 18, “Ryans insinuated that his starters won’t have a full game to show better play than the Ravens game and will be subbed out at some point. Ryans said it will be determined by “how the game goes.”” Thus, Demeco Ryans may say a half, a comfortable lead, or if a star player receives a serious injury he may pull the plug on the starters.

The Titans will already be missing many starters during the game such as: Tyler Boyd, Nick Folk, Amani Hooker, Arden Key, Tyjae Spears. The Titans are indeed shorthanded going into the matchup. This matchup and outcome should be one of the hardest to predict. Currently, sports books are giving the Texans +2.

Prediction:

The Titans will inevitably break a lot of fans hearts today when they win a meaningless game. I’ve seen enough Titans football, similar to last year, the Titans fight harder than anyone when it comes time to slide away from the #1 pick. The Titans should win this game with Pollard, Will Levis, and Calvin Ridley leading the way and playing the best football of their life. Final score: Titans win 24-17.