Houston @ Tennessee preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 15, 2013 ) Tennessee 24, Houston 30

Two teams that could both be operating under new coaches next season finish their dismal campaigns against one another on Sunday when the Houston Texans visit the Tennessee Titans. Houston has already fired coach Gary Kubiak, has the worst record in the NFL and enters the season finale with a franchise-worst 13-game losing streak. Tennessee will miss the playoffs for the fifth straight season and coach Mike Munchak could be fired early next week.

Munchak has a 21-26 record with the Titans and he certainly experienced misfortune this season when improving quarterback Jake Locker suffered a season-ending foot injury. “It’s part of this profession,” Munchak said. “This time of year, if you’re one of the teams that aren’t winning, the expectations are to win every year and I understand that,” Munchak said. “I don’t mind speaking. I can only control what we do this Sunday.” Houston interim coach Wade Phillips will decide Friday whether Case Keenum (thumb) or Matt Schaub will be the starting quarterback in the finale.

TV: 1 p.m. ET, CBS. LINE: Titans -7. O/U: 43.5.

ABOUT THE TEXANS (2-13): Receiver Andre Johnson has tied the NFL record of five 100-catch seasons (shared by Wes Welker) and is one of the few bright spots in a dismal season. Johnson ranks second in the NFL with 103 receptions and fifth with 1,358 receiving yards and is having trouble coping with going three-plus months without a victory after the team was billed as a Super Bowl contender. “It’s frustrating for everybody,” Johnson said. “Nobody wants to be in this position, but we made our bed so we have to lay in it, and hopefully we get a win Sunday and we don’t have to deal with this losing streak the whole offseason.”

ABOUT THE TITANS (6-9): Running back Chris Johnson has experienced a lukewarm campaign but is just 50 yards away from posting his sixth consecutive 1,000-yard rushing season. Johnson had a 96-yard outing against Houston in September but that output is his second-highest of the campaign and he has rushed for 46 yards or fewer seven times. The player who rushed for 2,006 yards in 2009 with a scintillating 5.6 yards per carry has declined to the point (career-low 3.8 average) that it won’t be a surprise if the franchise elects to part ways and pursue another starting back for 2014.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Houston has defeated the Titans three consecutive times – including Week 2 – and won seven of the last 10 meetings.

2. Tennessee has lost five consecutive home games, the franchise’s worst streak since 1996 – when the team was called the Houston Oilers.

3. Texans DE J.J. Watt has 9.5 sacks, less than half of his 2012 total (20.5) when he was the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year.

PREDICTION: Titans 24, Texans 20