HOUSTON (AP) — ght against the Tennessee Titans in their first game since Robert “Bob” McNair died on Friday they’ll all carry a reminder of the team’s late owner and founder.Affixed to the back of each player’s helmet as they try to set a franchise record with their eighth straight win will be a small decal in the shape of a football with simple white block letters bearing his initials of “RCM.”One of the NFL’s most influential owners Dylan Cole Color Rush Jersey , McNair had battled both leukemia and squamous cell carcinoma in recent years before dying in Houston on Friday. He was 81. The team did not release a cause of death, but said he died peacefully with wife Janice and his family by his side.While McNair hadn’t been around the team much this season as his health declined, he’d been a near constant presence in years past. He was often seen sitting on a golf cart watching his team practice or standing on the field before games.On Saturday before the Texans started practice, coach Bill O’Brien discussed McNair’s fight with cancer and his passing with the team.“He loved the Houston Texans and he loved coming out here to practice and he loved … the veterans will tell you, the guys that have been here a long time, sitting in his cart with (son) Cal (McNair) watching practice, driving around to the different drills,” O’Brien said on a video provided by the team.“And I just think on a day like this before we hit the field — this is his field — (we’ll) have a little moment of silence and then we break and we’ll go to practice. Because at the end of the day, guys, Bob McNair wanted us to win.”After games McNair, who dressed impeccably in a suit to watch the team play, would often emerge from the locker room to address the assembled media, beaming and raving about the Texans after big wins or lamenting that they had to do better after tough losses.This team wasn’t merely a business to McNair, he cared deeply about the Texans and talked often about his desire to bring Houston its first Super Bowl title.The Houston Oilers never won one before skipping town for Tennessee after the 1996 season. It was then that McNair made it his mission to return the NFL to the city. He formed Houston NFL Holdings in 1998, and on Oct. 6, 1999, he was awarded the 32nd NFL franchise. The Texans began play in 2002.And whether near or afar McNair had been a presence in all 266 games the Texans had played since their inaugural game on Sept. 8, 2002, when they beat the Cowboys 19-10.Quarterback David Carr, whom the Texans chose with their first draft pick and who led them to that win, recounted McNair’s kindness and knows better than most just how desperately he wanted to win a Super Bowl.“That was really the only regret after I left Houston was that I wasn’t able to bring a championship home for him and Janice because they definitely deserved it just because of what all they did to bring football back to Houston,” Carr said on NFL Network.Now the Texans will continue that quest without McNair, under the guidance of Cal McNair, who has been serving as the team’s chairman and chief operating officer and will take over in the wake of his father’s death.The last full season McNair would see was a disappointing one Trevor Daniel Color Rush Jersey , with the Texans finishing 4-12 in a year where J.J. Watt and Deshaun Watson both sustained season-ending injuries.Early on it looked as if this would be another lost season for the Texans after they dropped their first three games.But instead of crumbling after that terrible start, Houston has bounced back to become the first team since the 1925 New York Giants to win seven straight after opening a season 0-3.Their next challenge will be facing a Tennessee team that is expected to get quarterback Marcus Mariota back after he missed the second half of the Titans’ 38-10 loss to Indianapolis after suffering a stinger.The AFC South-leading Texans lost to the Titans 20-17 in Week 2 in a game that Mariota missed because of an elbow injury.Titans coach Mike Vrabel, who worked as an assistant in Houston for the past four years, thinks that his team is better than it was in that game, but knows that the Texans have improved, too.“Other than last week, we probably were playing better defense than the first time, but you never know,” he said.“The great thing about this league is you have to prove it every week. Every day that you come to work, as a player in this league and as a coach in this league, you have to prove your value to the team. We have to get to work and be able to practice and prepare against a good football team.” Nearing the last quarter of the NFL season, the next foe standing in the Texans’ way is the Cleveland Browns. The Browns have already accomplished a unique feat: they’ve won the same number of games as their last three seasons combined. Cleveland is on their first winning streak since 2014 and look to finally be a competent football team. The Texans will face a squad that has endured its fare share of turmoil this season but appear to be righting the ship under new guidance. The Texans enter the game riding high on an eight-game win streak after losing their first three games—a feat of their own that has never been accomplished. The hype and spotlight are beginning to shine on the Texans as the playoff picture begins to form with the Texans are squarely in the frame. With both teams uniquely optimistic about their future, the Browns pose several obstacles for the Texans to trip over in their pursuit of their ninth straight win of the 2018 season.Browns’ Offense Improving Under Baker MayfieldCleveland’s offense took on a different hue when their coach, Hue Jackson, was let go from the team two weeks ago. In the last two games, quarterback Baker Mayfield has thrown for 474 yards,seven touchdowns, and zero interceptions on just 46 attempts. He has recorded his best two QBRs of 96.7 and 97.1 over the last two weeks, with both efforts resulting in a win. Although a two-game winning streak pales in comparison to the Texan’s current eight-game streak, it is a significant step for a franchise humiliated over the past several seasons. Freddie Kitchens has thrown out the kitchen sink to get this offense flowing properly. Two name puns in one paragraph? Eat your heart out.Surprisingly, Jarvis Landry has not been the benefactor of an uptick in offensive production. The Browns fourth round rookie receiver, Antonio Callaway, has emerged as the team’s primary receiver and deep threat. David Njoku is the Browns’ best interior pass catcher and is developing into a serious threat in their offense. Everyone wants to know if the Browns are legitimate. Whether you are a Browns fan or not, nobody likes to see a franchise Demaryius Thomas Color Rush Jersey , particularly one with such a dedicated fanbase, lose at such an egregious level as the Browns have this past decade. This may not be the season where the Browns go from worst-to-first, but maybe they are more an embodiment of a 2014 Houston Astros team that spent three years as the worst team in the league to then have a below-average but better-than-before type of season. Maybe the offensive explosion by Cleveland is a short-lived convulsion of success before they revert back to their average, but it has been several weeks since the Texans’ defense has faced an offense that was in sync.Myles Garrett Is A ProblemElite pass rushers, as Texans fans can attest, can change an entire offense’s playbook and limit the formations the opposing offense can line up in. Garrett has recorded 10 sacks this season and he constantly creates pressure for Cleveland’s defense. The Texans’ offensive line is improving, but they have not exactly handled good pass rushers at an adequate level so far this season. Bradley Chubb, Von Miller, Trey Flowers, Jurrell Casey, and Darius Leonard, among others, have had field days against the Texans. Usually, the Texans struggle when opposing defenses have the ability to employ two pass rushers that each require additional blocking.Larry Ogunjobi is Garrett’s running mate on the left side of the defensive line and has been the recipient of greater production this season as a significant portion of opposing teams’ attention has gone to Garrett. As Pro Football Focus illustrated, when Garrett gets going, it is hard to stop him. Garrett accounts for 40% of the Browns’ sacks and a significant portion of their quarterback hits. Depending on the health of Houston’s offensive line, Garrett could be the most pivotal player in Sunday’s game. An Emotional Drain Before A Short WeekWith the recent passing of Texans’ founder and CEO Bob McNair, the entire Texans family came together to honor, respect, and win for the man who brought professional football back to Houston. A loss such as McNair’s can empower a team to play for a cause greater than itself and go further than originally expected. This may be the case for the Texans in the long run, but the emotional energy it took to muster together a win such as the one the Texans had on Monday night over the Titans can certainly take a toll on a player’s ability to bounce back just days after playing a hard-fought game. Fortunately, the Texans have two factors going in their favor. First, this team is healthier than it has been all season, and may I dare say over the last two seasons. The Texans will get Dylan Cole back this week to add to their depth at linebacker. Second https://www.texansfanshop.com , the Texans are playing at home and don’t have to waste a day traveling to Cleveland. Having three straight games in Houston is a major plus this late in the season, though it may not be enough to completely rejuvenate all players physically and mentally before Sunday. Browns Spread The Football AroundIf the Browns kept Josh Gordon, this section could be entirely different. Without an elite receiver, the Browns are void of a primary target. As the Patriots have shown, not having a go-to option is not all that bad as teams truly have to play the entire field when facing them. Essentially, Mayfield is not handicapped in his reads by forcing throws to a single stud receiver. Additionally, defenses cannot double team a single Browns receiver; Cleveland has several capable pass catchers who are all equally likely to be targeted on any given play. In the past three games, a total of six different running backs, tight ends, and wide receivers have caught touchdown passes from Mayfield. RB Duke Johnson, WR Callaway, and TE Njoku all are tied for the team lead with three receiving touchdowns. Next Gen Stats helps us break down Mayfield’s willingness to spread the ball all over the field.Shading protection to the right side of the field is the obvious defensive countermeasure to Mayfield’s throwing tendencies, but he is scanning the entire field for open receivers. Though he favors the right side, as almost all right-handed quarterbacks do, he is not limited in his throwing downfield and to the left. The Texans will have to work to cover the entire length of the field against Cleveland.Browns’ Turnover DifferentialCurrently the Browns sit atop the league in terms of turnover differential, with 14 more takeaways than giveaways. They have caused 27 turnovers this season; in the four games they have won, they’ve forced nine turnovers while only giving up two themselves. The sign of an improving team is the discipline to not turn the ball over combined with aggressiveness to cause opponents to turn it over. Ball security will surely be something the Texans will stress in their preparation for Sunday’s game. That said, the Texans have rarely given lesser opponents the opportunity to beat them with excessive turnovers. If this game turns into a shootout, Deshaun Watson is more likely to air it out and take more risks with his throws. As Bill O’Brien opens up his offense, so too does he open up opportunities for turnovers. If the Texans can stick to the game plan that has gotten them here—low scoring, possession-based complementary football—the turnover differential should be rather minimal. Anyone who watched the Big 12 and Oklahoma last year saw what a Mayfield-led offense can do to an opposing defense. Though the Texans’ defense is in another galaxy compared to those that Mayfield faced in the Big 12, the Texans would prefer to see him as little as possible on Sunday afternoon.That means limiting costly turnovers.