MNF: Cascade Of Vince Young Fan Boys Awaits As Texans Host Resurgent Titans

For more on the Texans and the Titans, check out Battle Red Blog and Music City Miracles, respectively.

(Sports Network) - Clearly, there is little time for the Houston Texans to dip their collective toe back in the water following the team's Week 10 bye. At 5-4, the Texans' margin for error is slim if they wish to keep their playoff hopes intact, and the resurgent Tennessee Titans don't figure to make things easy on Houston at Reliant Stadium Monday night.

The Texans already own a win over the Titans this season - a 34-31 thriller in Nashville back in Week 2 - but this Tennessee team has a new quarterback, and seemingly a new energy. Tennessee is 3-0 since quarterback Vince Young entered the starting lineup, making the Texans' prospects at their first home-and-home sweep of the Titans since 2004 seem daunting indeed.

Houston had an extra week to lick its wounds after a disappointing Week 9 that saw them drop a 20-17 decision to the first-place Indianapolis Colts.

The Texans, who were less than 15 minutes from making a statement win after Steve Slaton's 1-yard touchdown run put them ahead, 17-13, couldn't finish in their eventual loss, allowing Peyton Manning to engineer an 8-play, 61-yard touchdown drive culminating in a two-yard touchdown run by Houston native Joseph Addai with 7:11 left in the fourth quarter.

A Matt Schaub interception in Colts territory with 2:20 to play provided a glancing blow to the team's comeback prospects, but Houston fought its way off the ropes and got in position for a makeable 42-yard field goal for Kris Brown with one second to play that would have sent the game to overtime.

But Brown's kick went wide left, essentially taking Houston out of the equation for its first-ever AFC South title, and damaging their wild card prospects as well.

That said, the Titans would love to be where the Texans are at this moment, even though their recent work would suggest that the team is nearly back after its 0-6 start.

In last Sunday's 41-17 rout of the Bills, Tennessee running back Chris Johnson continued his recent exhilarating display, carrying 26 times for 132 yards and two touchdowns, and also catching nine balls for 100 yards out of the backfield to become the first player in franchise history to hit triple-digits via both the ground and air since Billy Cannon on Dec. 10, 1961.

Johnson has inserted himself into the NFL Offensive Player of the Year discussion during a three-game stretch that has seen the second-year-pro pile up 495 rushing yards and six touchdowns. The second-year back out of East Carolina leads the NFL in rushing yards (1091), and the Titans are No. 1 in the league in yards per carry (5.3) and rushes of 20 yards or longer (17).

Alongside the running back during his explosive run has been quarterback Vince Young, who maintained his efficiency by completing 17-of-25 passes for a season-high 210 yards, a touchdown, an interception, and 29 rushing yards in a winning effort last week.

The Titans' defense has also been a credit to the cause after some major problems during the first six weeks, and last week saw safety Vincent Fuller and cornerback Rod Hood help put the game away with pick-six touchdowns against the Bills.