Tennessee Titans: Major Playoff Implications Against Houston Texans

There couldn't have been a more productive bye week for the Tennessee Titans in terms of their spot in the standings.

Without having to step onto a football field, the Titans took over sole possession of first place in the AFC South after the Jacksonville Jaguars, Indianapolis Colts and, most importantly, the Houston Texans all lost this past week.

This sets up what could be the game of the season for Mike Munchak and the Titans.

The Titans will welcome the Texans to LP Field for their first meeting of the season, and the Titans have a great opportunity to jump a full game ahead of the Texans plus the tiebreaker with a win.

They won't meet again until, fittingly enough, the last game of the regular season.

Unless there's some kind of miracle regarding Andre Johnson's hamstring injury, he'll be out against the Titans.

Cortland Finnegan will have to find someone else to bicker with in a Texans uniform.

All kidding aside, the Texans' normally explosive offense has looked nothing more than an ordinary one without Johnson in the lineup.

With Johnson not in the lineup, the Texans will lean heavily on Arian Foster to take pressure off of a passing game that won't be nearly as vertical.

Ben Tate should also see plenty of action at running back.

To make the Titans' chances even better, Matt Schaub is also extremely banged up right now with a bruised hip, bruised chest and a sore throwing shoulder.

He's still fully expected to play, but how effective he'll be throwing the ball deep will be a whole new thing.

Meanwhile, the Titans are coming off a much needed break after getting hammered by the Pittsburgh Steelers, which were also said to be banged up heading into that game.

The Titans have to be careful not to relax against the Texans just because they're missing their top playmaker. There's still plenty of viable weapons in the Texans' passing attack and it starts with Owen Daniels.

Chris Johnson once again has a great opportunity to have a breakout game as he'll be going up against another rushing defense that ranks in the bottom half of the NFL.

Simply put, if Chris Johnson returns to old form then the Titans completely run away with this division. However, if he continues to struggle then the Texans will be in this until the end.

The Titans won't be able to keep burning teams with just the pass with all these young receivers. Chris Johnson has to start earning his contract with the teeth of the division schedule just ahead.

After their meeting with the Texans, the Titans have three-straight games against teams that have a combined record of 5-13.

The AFC South has turned into a two-horse race, and the Titans have a golden opportunity to get a tight grip on the division.