Tennessee’s Jeff Fisher is widely recognized as one of the top coaches in the NFL. He will have to be to guide the Titans through an extremely difficult time, off and on the field.
Tennessee (5-5) visits the Houston Texans (4-6) on Sunday in what could be an elimination game in the AFC South Division. The Indianapolis Colts and Jacksonville Jaguars lead the division at 6-4.
The Titans, who have lost three straight, have won eight of their last 10 against the Texans.
Football is just a meaningless game, though, when compared to what the Titans learned Wednesday.
Offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger, 58, has been diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer. Heimerdinger, who will call Sunday’s game, begins chemotherapy Monday.
Rusty Smith, the first player ever drafted from Florida Atlantic, will start at quarterback for the Titans. Smith relieved Vince Young in last week’s 19-16 overtime loss to the Washington Redskins after Young injured his right thumb.
The Titans placed Young on injured reserve. Kerry Collins, the Titans’ other quarterback, is expected to miss one or two more weeks, so Tennessee signed Chris Simms on Tuesday to back up Smith.
Rusty was a little rusty against the Redskins. He was 3 for 9 passing for 62 yards and an interception. With a week’s practice and a weak Texans’ defense, though, Smith should have a better chance to succeed.
Houston’s defense allows 408.8 yards per game, second-to-last in the NFL. They are last in passing yards (301) and allow 28.7 points per game, third worst.
The Texans have lost four straight, and the last two have been gut-wrenching.
They lost to the New York Jets a 30-27 last week on a touchdown with 10 seconds left. Two weeks ago, the Jacksonville Jaguars defeated the Texans 31-24 on a Hail Mary touchdown pass as time expired.
Sunday’s game features two of the top running backs in the NFL in Houston’s Arian Foster and Tennessee’s Chris Johnson. Foster leads the league with 1,004 yards and 12 touchdowns, while Johnson is third in yards with 968 and second in TDs with nine.
Also, two notable receivers will take the field in Houston’s Andre Johnson and Tennessee’s Randy Moss.
Johnson is fifth in the NFL with 813 yards and 10th with 56 receptions despite being slowed by an ankle injury. He has averaged 144.7 yards in the last three games against the Titans.
Moss is playing for his third team in 2010 and has one catch in two games with the Titans.
Texans quarterback Matt Schaub has completed 63.2 percent of his passes, with 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He was hospitalized for a day last week with a bursa sac issue in his right knee, but played against the Jets.
The Titans play five of their six remaining games within the division, including two with the Colts and two with the Texans. The Texans have three division games remaining, including one with the Jaguars.
Tennessee won the last meeting 20-17 at Houston in 2009.