Countdown to Kickoff: Texans at Titans

The Titans are likely to start Zach Mettenberger, the second-year quarterback who, if he starts today, will have faced the Texans in four of his nine starts over the course of his career. This over-reliance on Mettenberger results from the BESFs' lack of protection along the offensive line. The OL managed to get Jake Locker injured to the point where he decided to retire rather than rehab (though it's unlikely Tennessee would have brought him back), and now has Marcus Mariota again missing time this season with a sprained MCL.

While the Texans' defense has recently had its way with the Titans' QBs, we have to remember that we're starting Brandon Weeden today instead of Brian Hoyer or T.J. Yates. Hoyer is missing his second game with his second concussion of the season (second since the bye week, really), and Yates is done for the season after tearing his ACL in the win over the Colts last week. To back up Weeden, we've brought in B.J. Daniels, who was on the Seahawks practice squad this time last week. It's essential that our offensive line can protect Weeden, because as little of the playbook as Weeden knows and is comfortable running, Daniels knows even less, and Shane Lechler made it clear last season when Ryan Fitzpatrick went down that he wasn't comfortable being asked to quarterback the team in an emergency.

With those thoughts in mind, what are your hopes, fears, expectations of today's matchup at Nissan Stadium? This is your countdown thread. Inactives will post around 10:45AM CST, with the first quarter thread opening at 11:45AM CST, after which this thread will close.

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