The two best teams in the AFC South face off in a divisional meeting that will have a profound impact on the standings. The Titans are favored by NFL odds, but are they the right NFL pick?
Sunday, September 26, 2021 – 01:00 PM EDT at Nissan Stadium
The Tennessee Titans bounced back from a disastrous debut to win 33-30 in Seattle on Sunday. The Titans were down 24-9 at halftime but rallied back with a furious second-half charge led by running back Derrick Henry. Henry rushed for 182 yards on 35 attempts. He also had 6 catches for 55 yards. An amazing stat to come from his performance, Henry gained 160 of his 182 yards after contact, an astounding 4.57 yds per carry after contact.
Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill had quite a day as well throwing for 347 yards on 23-27 attempts. Wide receiver Julio Jones looks to be his Hall of Fame self, dragging in 6 catches for 128 yards. Jones also had a touchdown overturned that looked like a true catch to most observers.
The Titans’ defense played well, only giving up six points in the second half and holding Seattle to 4 of 12 on third-down conversions. The Seahawks were in complete control of this game. The Titans showed an excellent fighting spirit to fight back after falling behind big. This was the Seahawks’ first loss after leading by 15 points at home in team history. They were previously 52-0 in such situations. Looking at an 0-2 start, the Titans turned all the momentum around and now are the favorites to win the AFC South.
The Colts started 0-2, but to be fair they played two top opponents to start the season. Both the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams can be argued to be Super Bowl contenders, so the schedule makers did not deal the Colts an easy hand to start the season.
After being defeated handily by the Seahawks, the Colts kept it close against the Rams and managed to cover the spread against NFL odds. The victory did not come without a cost though. Colts QB Carson Wentz left with an ankle injury with 2:15 to go in the game. Backup Jacob Eason was forced to take the reins and finish the game. Wentz had a good performance before his injury, throwing for 20-31 247 yards and 1 TD with 1 interception. Eason looked rusty in his limited appearance and was unable to get it done at the end of the game throwing 2-5 for 25 yards and an INT.
The Colts defense looked fairly strong even in giving up 27 points to the high-powered Rams. This defense is due for another test however as the high-powered Titans offense seemed to come alive in Seattle. The Colts will be trying to take that momentum and put themselves in possession to be the front-runner of the AFC South. These division games are so important. I expect both coaches and play-callers to pull out all the stops in order to gain the early-season advantage in the division standings.
Colts linebackers vs RB Derrick Henry. Derrick Henry can be an absolute monster with his size if he’s allowed to get to the third level of defense. Ideally, the defense wants to plug all the holes with the front four of the defensive line and let the linebackers fill those holes and make the tackle before the safeties can get involved. Colts LB Darius Leonard is great at filling these holes. It will be incumbent on him and his fellow linebackers to make sure the safeties are not attempting to tackle Henry while Henry has generated a full head of steam. If the Colts are able to limit Henry’s effectiveness on the early downs, they can put the Titans in third-and-long situations and have a chance to let their pass rush pin their ears back, and put pressure on Tannehill. If Henry is averaging more than four or five yards a carry-on early downs, the Titans will be in easy third and short situations. If they get plentiful 3rd and short, they should be able to move down the field and score often. The key to stopping this Titans offense is stopping Derrick Henry.
This is definitely a tough game to handicap with the status of Carson Wentz still unknown and probably will not be known until later this week. However, even if he plays he will be at serious risk of re-injury and I do not think Jacob Eason can keep up with Ryan Tannehill at this point in their respective careers. While this line will drop if Wentz is playing, you could get a better number now. For if Wentz is confirmed out, it will most likely move the other way. For this reason, I will take a gamble early with taking the Titans. I’m assuming that Wentz does not start. Without their leader Carson Wentz, the Colts will have problems keeping pace with a high-powered Titans offense. This will lead to the Titans winning and covering. Lay the points. Take the Titans!
NFL Pick: Tennessee Titans -5 (-110) at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.