Tennessee Titans @ Jacksonville Jaguars: Titans can stand tall to the spluttering Jags

Romilly Evans
18 November 2015

No.5 is alive: Blake Bortles has upped his production rate but is still prone to rookie errors

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In this basement battle of the woeful AFC South, Romilly Evans expects Tennessee to restore some dignity to their current campaign with a much-needed victory...

"The Titans' D has registered 12 sacks since Week Eight, somewhat unbelievably putting them at league-leading heights"

Tennessee Titans @ Jacksonville Jaguars
Start-time: Friday, 01:30
TV: Live on Sky Sports 1

At first glance, this may look like a bargain-basement battle to avoid a seasonal slating. However, in the lowly AFC South where sub-500 records dominate the landscape, this game could yet propel its winner to postseason honours. And after Houston pulled off an outrageous upset in Cincinnati on Monday night, spoiling the Bengals' perfect campaign, surely both Tennessee and Jacksonville sense blood. Especially seeing as the top dogs in this division, the Indianapolis Colts, are banged up and nervously awaiting the return of their leader Andrew Luck in a few weeks' time.

So who will take their opportunity in the national spotlight? Well, based on their weekend outings, the Jacksonville Jaguars stole the plaudits with their away victory at Baltimore. The Tennessee Titans, however, went down as expected hosting unbeaten Carolina.

Nevertheless, Baltimore are not what they were (depleted by injuries) and were undone by a freak play with time winding down. On their own 49-yard line Elvis Dumervil wrapped up the Jags' Blake Bortles for the sack and the game as the clock expired. However, in Bortles' unwitting stumble and scramble, Dumervil caught his facemask, drawing a penalty and a reinstated second on the ticker. The ensuing 53-yard field goal from Jason Myers was as painful as it was predictable for 1.011/100 backers.

So while the Jags secured another unlikely win, there really isn't much to recommend in their performance. QB Bortles continues to improve but still is prone to the rookie mistakes which a third-overall selection from the 2014 Draft should've eradicated by now. Not that I'm blaming him exclusively for the 13 turnovers which the Jaguars have borne in their six losses to date this term.However, these reversals do point to an air of increasingly predictability about the inaccurate Bortles and the Jackson offense as a whole. Particularly with their key wideout, Allen Hurns, injured and likely sidelined for this match.

Mired in mediocrity though they may be, the Titans have at least been stepping up on defense. Their D has registered 12 sacks since Week Eight, somewhat unbelievably putting them at league-leading heights. And at this humble level, that counts. In short, then, they are well-matched to exploit the Jags' weaknesses.

On the other side of the coin, Tennessee's offensive detail only need minimise their mistakes a little to be competitive. Remember, they stunned the Saints in the Superdome a fortnight back. And while that's a far simpler feat than it used to be, their quarterback Marcus Mariota is demonstrating a more rapid rate of improvement than his counterpart Bortles - 1,795 yards, 13 touchdowns and six interceptions, and 147 completion for an admirable Passer Rating of 98.3. That places Mariota top among the current class of rookie QBs and ninth all-round.

So I'll trust Mariota's arm to keep pumping it down the park, and their D can do the rest. Indeed, I'd go as far to say as these moneyline prices should flip-flop for favouritism. We can take advantage accordingly on a few attractive marks.

Recommended Bets

Back Tennessee Titans (+2.5) to win on the Match Points Spread @ 2.111/10 or better
Back Tennessee Titans to win on the Match Moneyline @ 2.3611/8 or better
Back Tennessee Titans (+1.5) to win on the First Half Spread @ 2.26/5 or better
Back Under 22.5 Jacksonville Jaguars Points @ 1.9620/21 or better