The Tennessee Titans will travel to Atlanta this week to face the Atlanta Falcons in an intriguing Week 1 matchup in the preseason. Will the Titans get the win? Or will the Falcons go 1-0 to kick off their preseason campaign? Check out our preview of this game below.
If this was a game in the regular season, the obvious story would be Julio Jones facing his old team. But since this is just a preseason joust, don’t expect to see Jone risk his hamstring playing in a glorified exhibition match. Instead, the Titans will be rolling out guys like rookie Dez Fitzpatrick, Marcus Johnson downfield, while Logan Woodside and Matt Barkley will continue to make their case as to which between them should be the main backup to Ryan Tannehill. Atlanta’s porous defense that was just 28th last season in total yards allowed per game offers hope for Tennessee. As for the Titans’ own defense, it got some youth injected into it with draft picks like CB Caleb Farley and LB Monty Rice, both of whom should be featured quite a lot in this game.
The Titans are 2-2 against the spread in their last four preseason games.
Although the Falcons lost Julio Jones, there is still so much excitement for the team’s passing game. A big reason for that is rookie tight end Kyle Pitts. The Florida Gators product has been among the most hyped-up prospects leading up to the 2021 NFL Draft, and the Falcons are going to see him in competitive action for the first time this Friday. The ceiling for his performance should be limited because Matt Ryan is unlikely to play in this game, but he’s still definitely a player to watch. In the backfield, Mike Davis is set as the Falcons’ starting running back, so Qadree Ollison, Cordarrelle Patterson, Javian Hawkins, and D’Onta Foreman should all share duties in the ground attack as they continue to audition for the RB2 role. Tennesse’s defense was a punching bag last season, so there should be plenty of chances for the Falcons’ attack to strike.
The under is 7-3 in the Falcons’ last 10 preseason games.
