“The end is in the beginning and yet you go on.”
― Endgame
The Titans had an 11-play sequence in this game that stretched across three offensive drives where Will Levis managed to fumble and take five sacks. During that span, the score went from 17-14 Titans to 20-17 Titans.
Overall, Levis took eight sacks, tossed in the customary Levis-6 — this time on an INT that looked designed to get the defense six points — and the Titans added an additional turnover on a muffed punt. (That play led to a hilarious sequence where the Texans used seven plays across two possessions to lose a total of 8 yards and kick a FG.)
At one point, I felt certain we could add “Levis taking a sack,” to death and taxes, but Will Levis competes! His advice for Anthony Richardson would almost certainly channel Deadwood’s Al Swearengen and read something like . . .
Pain or damage don’t end the world. Or despair, or [expletive deleted] beatin’s. The world ends when you’re dead. Until then you got more punishment in store. Stand it like a man, and give some back.
Levis gave some back to the tune of a 63-yard completion to Calvin Ridley and touchdowns of 70 and 38 yards respectively to Chig Okonkwo and Nick Westbrook-Ihkine.
How did the Texans respond? Although he had a teammate already in motion directly in his line of sight, Joe Mixon motioned at the snap on a 33-yard TD to Nico Collins that would have given Houston a 34-30 lead. Then Kaimi Fairbairn missed a 28-yard FG that stood out even amidst all of the missed kicks of the past several weeks.
Then, after the defense forced a quick three-and-out to get the ball back with 1:29 to go, the final Houston drive went like this:
- Incomplete pass
- Sack
- C.J. Stroud runs out of the back of the end zone Dan Orlovsky style
Although the Texans are perhaps objectively not as bad as some of the teams that have made the playoffs in the past, it’s time to start discussing amendments to the rules that wouldn’t require teams from the South division (any conference) to participate in postseason.
Fantasy takeaway: Since returning in Week 11, Collins has scored 29.6 points and had 24.3 points taken off the scoreboard due to teammate disagreements with the overly officious level of detail in the rules pre-/proscribing where you can stand in the pivotal moment immediately before and after the ball is snapped. You can’t beat the bureaucracy.
FFPC Interlude
Every week feels bigger than the one before it at this point. Week 12 features the final push for a playoff spot. Will you win one of four spots to compete for a league title? Will you earn a top-two seed and a direct berth in the sprint for $1 million? You must win in Week 13 to compete for a title in Week 14, and then you spend three straight weeks on the edge of your seat, needing 200-point games to etch your name in history.
I hope the 58 combined points from Trey McBride and Bucky Irving powered you to victory everywhere, and that you were caught up in the Saquon Barkley buzzsaw as infrequently as possible.
