The Houston Texans rode career performances from Ryan Fitzpatrick and DeAndre Hopkins to a 45-21 win over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday to stay in the AFC playoff race. Our takeaways:
- Fitzmagic is back! You'd probably have to go back to his days at Harvard to find a more dominating effort. Fitzpatrick threw six touchdown passes and no interceptions with a 147.5 passer rating, picking Tennessee apart with surgical precision. This was one of the best quarterback performances of the season. Consider the opponent, but Fitzpatrick showed us why he'll have a job in this league for years to come.
- All due respect to Andre Johnson, but DeAndre Hopkins might be the best wide receiver on the Texans. He was Fitzpatrick's No. 1 target, setting career highs with nine receptions for 238 yards and twotouchdowns. He's over 1,000 yards on the season.
- It will get lost because of the offensive fireworks, but J.J. Watt had yet another dominant game. The MVP candidate had two sacks, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and one ... wait for it ... touchdown catch. That's three on the season for Watt, or one more than Andre Johnson.
- Zach Mettenberger was knocked out of this game in the third quarter with a right shoulder injury. He was hurt when Watt drove the rookie into the ground after a completed pass. Watt probably should have been flagged for unnecessary roughness. Jake Locker came on and threw an interception on his first play.
- Looking for a bright spot, Titans fans? Kendall Wright is a player: He had seven catches for a 132 yards and a touchdown. Now he just needs a quarterback.
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