The Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars have more at stake than most teams at this time of the year. They’re both still very much in contention for that No. 1 spot… in the NFL Draft, that is. And a win for either would take them out of the running. But don’t think either team will be tanking to get it.
Pride (and jobs) will be at stake on Thursday night as the two of the worst two teams in the NFL head to prime time. Read on for our preview below.
On the other end of the standings, two division leaders go head-to-head when the AFC South champion Indianapolis Colts come to the Big D to take on the NFC East-leading Dallas Cowboys. Check out our preview of that game here.
[sc:Football ]Tennessee Titans vs. Jacksonville Jaguars Betting Preview and Prediction
Where: EverBank Field, Jacksonville
When: Thursday, December 18, 8:30 PM ET
Line: Tennessee Titans (+3) at Jacksonville Jaguars (-3); total 41.0 – see all NFL lines
Betting on the Tennessee Titans
Jake Locker may have just ended his Tennessee Titans career the way he’s spent most of it: injured. The upcoming free agent quarterback was taken out of the Titans’ 16-11 loss to the New York Jets, their eighth loss in a row. With rookie Zach Mettenberger also out mending a shoulder injury, that leaves Charlie Whitehurst as the Titans’ de facto starter.
[sc:NFL240banner ]Whitehurst didn’t fare too well in his quarter-plus of action against the Jets. He completed just 42 percent of his throws for 203 yards. But in his previous three starts, he had connected on at least 60 percent of his targets with four touchdowns against one interception. Whitehurst was the quarterback that led the Titans to their last win back in Week 6 which came against the Jags.
Whitehurst’s ability to not completely throw his team out of the game like Mettenberger and Locker had been doing will be a positive. The other two quarterbacks had thrown seven interceptions each in their seven games played this year.
However, the Titans do have the habit of shooting themselves in the foot in positions other than quarterback. They’ve lost at least one fumble in seven of their last eight games. But the last game they played which was completely turnover-free was against the Jags.
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Betting on the Jacksonville Jaguars
This season has been a baptism of fire for the Jags’ Blake Bortles. Not only has the rookie quarterback thrown the most interceptions in the league this season (17), he’s also been sacked 46 times, second only to Colin Kaepernick. He was dropped eight more times against the Ravens in a 20-12 loss on Sunday.
He suffered a right foot sprain in that game and is currently listed as questionable to play against the Titans. If he can’t go, veteran Chad Henne will get his first start since Week 3.
Whoever starts at quarterback could have finally have some semblance of a running game to help him out. Toby Gerhart finally looked fully-recovered from a lingering foot injury as he ran for 54 yards on 13 carries (both are the most since Week 1) against the Ravens. He could yet set new season-highs against the Titans’ league-worst run defense (139.6 yards allowed per game).
Meanwhile, their own run defense had arguably its most impressive game of the season in limiting the Ravens’ top-five ranked rushing attack to 3.6 yards per carry. Replicating that performance against the Titans’ bad running game should force Tennessee to let Whitehurst drop back and pass more often than they’d like.
The Jags won’t have too many complaints with that, as their defensive line gets a sack on nine percent of dropbacks, second-best in the NFL.
Writer’s Prediction
Jacksonville’s defense takes control of the Titans, while Gerhart produces enough offense for the Jags to win and cover (-3) at home.
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