The biggest question for sports bettors who are handicapping this game has to be “Which Tennessee team is going to show up on Monday night?” Will it be the team that opened the season 0-6 or the team that has laid a whooping on its last three opponents, winning by an average margin of 16 points per game? Vince Young is now the quarterback for this Titans’ team and although his numbers aren’t breathtaking, he seems to be bringing a bit of new life to his ball club. Houston on the other hand, comes into this game at 5-4 straight up and 5-3-1 against the spread. They will be rested coming off a bye week and after losing a heartbreaker to the Indianapolis Colts in their last outing. Houston has been led by quarterback Matt Schaub, who has been outstanding in ’09. Schaub has already thrown for more than 2,600 yards and 17 TD’s. Odds makers installed the Texans as early 3.5 point favorites with sharp betting action coming on the favorite and the line now sits at Houston minus 4.5 or 5 at most sports books.

The Tennessee offense runs through one man and his name is Chris Johnson. Johnson has already rushed for close to 1,100 yards and eight touchdowns in only nine games played. In fact, with the help of Johnson, Tennessee boasts the 2nd best rushing attack in all of football, averaging just over 160 yards a game on the ground. Make no mistake about it, Houston is going to receive a steady dose of Chris Johnson on Monday night and they better be ready for it or they could be in for a long night. The Texans run defense is average as they are ranked 14th in the NFL against the run. Opposing offenses are averaging 108 yards per game against this defense but the bigger concern for Houston is the fact that they give up an average of 4.6 yards per carry. Expect them to load the box with 8, maybe 9 defenders to force Vince Young to beat them with his arm.

While Tennessee relies on the run, Houston is certainly a pass oriented team. We’ve already touched on the success of Matt Schaub but forgot to mention that this is the third best passing team in the NFL. The Texans average just over 283 yards a game through the air. Schaub has one of the best wide receivers in the game in Andre Johnson and that tandem will try and expose a Tennessee secondary that has been pretty dreadful all year long. There are some injury notes to point out though as tight end Owen Daniels will not play and Tennessee’s secondary is getting healthier. Cortland Finnegan is back at full strength and their other starting corner, Nick Harper is listed as day to day. The battle of the Houston receivers and the Tennessee secondary is going to be a big key in determining who wins this game. The Titans have been playing better over the last three games against the pass however they haven’t faced a passing attack like Houston’s over that span.

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