The Tennessee Titans have long embraced their roots as the Houston Oilers by wearing the team’s powder blue throwback uniforms. And during Sunday’s game against Houston’s current team — the Texans — things weren’t going so great for the Houston team of yesteryear.
So when CBS play-by-play announcer Tom McCarthy threw to the New York studio for an in-game update shortly after the Texans had gone up 23-6, there was actually no update to be had at all.
CBS just cut to a studio update during the Texans-Titans game with an update from…the Texans-Titans game pic.twitter.com/zZyWr9nM21
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 5, 2025
“Guys this must be a mistake, but I’m going to do it anyway,” CBS studio analyst and former Texans great JJ Watt began. “We’ve got a HOUSTON Oilers fumble, picked up by the HOUSTON Texans and ran back for a touchdown. And yes, that does appear to be two times in-a-row that the Houston Oilers uniforms have been worn against the Houston Texans, and the Texans happen to be 2-0 while wearing them.”
Yes. Under the guise of a studio update showing the Texans returning a Titans fumble for a touchdown that had occurred just moments earlier, Watt took an opportunity to skewer the Titans for co-opting Houston’s football history for themselves. It was perfectly executed, perhaps even to the point where some fans thought this was a genuine mistake.
But this was no mistake. This was Watt standing up for the franchise he spent ten seasons in uniform for. The three-time Defensive Player of the Year seemed to confirm as much on social media, simply replying to the clip with a sly smile.
😏
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) January 5, 2025
