Beating Texans Means More to Titans

The Tennessee Titans had extra motivation to beat the Houston Texans.

Amy Adams Strunk visits with fans before their game against the New York Jets at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. / Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Tennessee Titans are celebrating after a big 32-27 win against the Houston Texans in Week 12 at NRG Stadium.

The win marked just the third victory of the season for the Titans in what has been a challenging season. But given the rivalry between the two teams and cities, the win meant a lot for Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk.

“She's thrilled," Titans coach Brian Callahan said of Adams Strunk. "She was thrilled mainly because we won the game. But, yeah. It's okay to admit that these things sometimes mean more, and I know it does for her and it does for us and we wanted to make sure that we put on a great performance down here, and we had a chance to win the game and we did. And I think that she's more than anything else just proud of our football team and the way they came down here and fought and played.”

The history between the Titans and Texans has long been documented and it has sparked a rival between the two franchises. The Titans franchise was originally housed in Houston as the Oilers before Bud Adams, Amy's father, moved the team to Tennessee in 1997.

“We know the history behind everything, how much this means to her is why we go out there and give it our all," Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons said via ESPN insider Turron Davenport. "We talked about it last night and let this game mean a lot more playing for the owner.”

Perhaps the Titans will use the motivation that stemmed from this week's game and apply it to the remaining six games to end the season.

The next game for the Titans comes on Sunday as the team takes on the Washington Commanders.

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