NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Texans beat the Titans in Week 11.

The Titans have to make sure they are not swept by the division rival.

They have the bye to play for and the Texans are one of the NFL’s worst teams.

This should not be a roadblock for a team with higher aspirations. 

Courtesy Tennessee Titans

This time around there will be a change at quarterback where veteran Tyrod Taylor has given way to rookie Davis Mills.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The standings like the Titans.

The metrics don’t.

Read Pro Football Focus or Football Outsiders or the analytics minds at The Athletic, and the Titans can sound like a Super Bowl long-shot, not a team on the verge of a No. 1 seed who will only have to win two home games to earn the spot in the AFC locker room at Sofi Stadium on Feb. 13.

Tennessee hasn’t played consistently excellent football. And I am not anti-analytics.

I always try to understand what the metrics are telling us, though I sometimes get overwhelmed in a world where expected points added seem to mean more than actual points scored.

I admit confusion here. Sixteen of the 17 games have been played. The Titans have overcome half of them without their best player, beaten several of the others best teams in the AFC – the Chiefs, the Bills and the Colts twice as well as the Rams who are currently No. 2 in the NFC and the 49ers, who are still contending for an NFC spot.

Why then this?

Making no comments, just sharing some facts cc: @bykevinclark @NoraPrinciotti @theStevenRuiz pic.twitter.com/eVLAhRHYSe

— Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) January 3, 2022

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Derrick Henry has been officially designated to return to practice and was on the field with the Titans on Wednesday.

Derrick Henry looked very good. Did everything all the other backs did during the RB period. Ran comfortably. Out of that window you wouldn’t know he was coming off anything significant.

But no major speed, dramatic cuts or, obviously, contact. #Titans. pic.twitter.com/pevYiS8GFK

— Paul Kuharsky (@PaulKuharskyNFL) January 5, 2022

Technically, the Titans now have three weeks before they must move Henry to the active roster or put him back on IR. 

The activation doesn’t mean he will jump right into full practices with the Titans as they prepare for Sunday’s game in Houston. The Titans always have a plan for a guy to ramp up for a return.

But the envelope of what he can do expands. There are now no limits. Previously he was only allowed to work on his own, doing conditioning or drills under the watch of trainers.

The question for this week is whether the team will activate him and use him at all against the Texans. [Unlocked]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Nashville Metro Police consulted with the District Attorney's office and charged Bud Dupree with misdemeanor assault of Greg Butler, 20, in an incident at a Walgreens not far from the Titans headquarters on Sunday night.

Dupree and his attorney met with the district attorney's office Monday morning and his attorney met with detective's Monday afternoon, per a Metro Nashville Police news release. [Unlocked]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The busts tend to get our notice because they leave holes, and filling the holes can become painstaking in-season work.

So the failure, say, to realize Vic Beasley and Josh Reynolds didn’t love ball in the way the Titans want their players to love ball was bad on Jon Robinson, the guy with the final say on personnel with the team.

Pool photo/ Mark Humphrey, AP

But as the Titans approach the playoffs and potentially the No. 1 seed in the AFC, Denico Autry and Bud Dupree are major influences on a defense that’s had a major turnaround since last season.

Autry is a home-run signing, at three years, $21.5 million with $9 million guaranteed. Dupree’s best is still ahead of him, but he too looks very good as the big-ticket item from the 2021 shopping list.

Let’s see where they fit in on the list of Robinson’s best free-agent signings.

By BLAKE BEDDINGFIELD, special correspondent

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Titans matched up versus the Dolphins well on paper, and after Sunday took care of business on the field.

The Titans defense forced the Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa into long yardage conversions.

© George Walker IV / Tennessean.com / USA TODAY NETWORK

This Dolphins offense is dysfunctional in its personnel design and the Titans defense took advantage of that.

When a team like Miami struggles to run the football successfully it allows the defense to dictate the flow of the game.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- They provided cause for doubt along the way, with the lineup holes due to injury and Covid, the turnover problems, the anemic offense, the losses to really bad teams and more.

But we can bury that right now. The Titans destroyed the Dolphins, improved to 11-5, clinched a second straight AFC South title and are a win away from the AFC South's No. 1 seed.

Pretty crazy, right? 

We gathered to discuss the big win over Miami and all that came with it.

You can watch to the chat through the private Facebook page or head below the line.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Titans thorough 34-3 handling of the Dolphins at Nissan Stadium should effectively serve as a save the date card.

Please join us Sunday, January 30, 2:05 p.m. CT for the AFC Championship Game at Nissan Stadium, or set aside the time to view the game on CBS.

© George Walker IV / Tennessean.com / USA TODAY NETWORK

Yes, yes, I know.

Nothing is a given. Great NFL blueprints get torn up every week.

But the 11-5 Titans have paved the easiest imaginable path to get to and host the game.