4 posts tagged “tennessee titans”
Tennessee -3 vs. Baltimore
Two one-time division rivals will meet up in the playoffs for the third time. If it is anything like the previous two, it will be quite a show. The red-hot Baltimore Ravens will meet up with the rested Tennessee Titans in Nashville Saturday afternoon in a matchup of two of the best defenses in the NFL.
For the Titans (13-3), this matchup is a painful déjà vu of 2000 when the team finished 13-3, just like this season; clinched home-field advantage, just like this season and faced the Baltimore Ravens in the divisional round, just like this season. Baltimore won, just like this season? Tennessee certainly hopes not.
The teams also met in 2003, when the heavily-favored, AFC North champion Ravens went down in the first round to the wild-card Titans.
This game will be played in the present and the present squads did meet up on October 5th in Baltimore (12-5), with the Titans improving to 5-0 en route to a 10-0 start with a 13-10 victory. The game went down to 1:56 remaining for the game to be decided as Kerry Collins hooked up with Alge Crumpler for a game-winning 11-yard touchdown.
Most expect a game like that to repeat itself as the Titans and Ravens have two of the best defenses in the NFL and that was seen in their Week 5 game as both offenses combined for 495 yards and committed 21 penalties for 169 yards.
The suffocating defenses are near the tops in the NFL and not separated by much. Tennessee ranks second in scoring defense with 14.6 points per game. Not to far behind is Baltimore, ranked third with 15.3. In total yards, Baltimore was second with 277.1 and Tennessee was tied for fifth at 277.1.
The Titans could be even more dangerous if Albert Haynesworth can come back as planned. The All-Pro defensive tackle is day-to-day, but had targeted this game to come back after missing the final two regular season games and resting up through last week's bye week. Also on the mend is defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch, who is recovering from an injured groin and could be back for the first time in a month.
Collins doesn't have to be outstanding given Tennessee's running game. The Titans averaged 137.4 yards per game led by Chris Johnson and LenDale White, who combined for 2,001 yards and 24 touchdowns. White rushed for a career-high 15 touchdowns this season.
While Tennessee rested, the Ravens hit on all cylinders when they beat the AFC-East champion Dolphins in Miami 27-9. They forced a usually steady Miami defense into four Chad Pennington interceptions en route to victory. Rookie Joe Flacco was not particularly sharp, but he did not have to be as he threw 9 of 23 for 135 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
The teams have split 18 meetings, with Tennessee winning three of the last four; however five of the last six have had a margin of victory of six points or less.
Tennessee -11 vs. Detroit
In one of the bigger mismatches of the NFL season, the Titans (10-1) will travel to Ford Field to take part in the annual early Thanksgiving Day game in Detroit. Perhaps a bit of embarrassment for this matchup has gone away for the Lions (0-11). Certainly the media would be billing it as the battle of the unbeaten and winless. However for Detroit, who has let a pair of 10-0 and a 17-0 leads evaporate over the last two weeks, there is plenty of embarrassment to go around.
The chances of the Tennessee Titans becoming the third modern team to go undefeated in the regular season were long, and for two teams to do it in back-to-back years, astronomical, so they were bound to lose. Being perfect, Tennessee was clearly the hottest team in the NFL. But the second hottest team, with all apologies to the New York Giants, were the New York Jets. The Jets staked their claim to the hottest team, at least in the AFC with their 34-13 road victory over the Titans this past Sunday.
Tennessee's offense seemed out of synch throughout the game. Kerry Collins was 21 for 39 for 243 yards and a touchdown, but the running game did not help the veteran. Chris Johnson had only 46 yards on the ground and Lindale White only received one carry for minus one yard. The Titans won 10 games in a row as a team and this was the case with their first loss. The defense surrendered 409 yards and allowed Thomas Jones and Leon Washington to gain 178 yards with Washington scoring twice.
Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks and the Titans can truly be thankful that Detroit is their next opponent and if they do what is expected, they will be 11-1 with 10 days to rest until their next game against Cleveland December 7. Tennessee will undoubtedly be able to get its offense on track against the Lions who are susceptible to big plays. Detroit fell to Tampa Bay at home 38-20 despite building a first quarter 17-0 lead. This was only one week after Carolina spotted them 10 points only to storm back and win 31-22. This has been the story of the season for the Lions, who have held leads in seven of their games this season.
Daunte Culpepper continues to struggle as he learns the offense. The veteran who came out of retirement prior to Week 10 has looked decent in certain drives, but has continually made key mistakes. Culpepper has completed just over 50 percent of his passes for 432 yards with two touchdowns and five interceptions in three games. Against the Buccaneers, Culpepper threw for 121 yards with a touchdown, but two costly interceptions, one which was returned for a touchdown and caused him to be benched in favor of Drew Stanton. Although with Stanton suffering a concussion late in the game, it appears certain Culpepper will start Thursday.
Detroit has never beaten Tennessee in two games since the team relocated from Houston. They last beat the franchise in 1995 at the Astrodome.
Tennessee -5 1/2 vs. New York
The best game on the Week 12 slate will send the surging New York Jets to take on the undefeated Tennessee Titans in Nashville.
If it was not for the perfect 10-0 Titans, the Jets (7-3) would be the hottest team in the AFC this season. New York has won four straight and six out of seven. The teams are stacked one and two in the AFC playoff picture and this game could possibly be an AFC Championship preview.
Meanwhile the Titans try to become the 13th team to ever start 11-0. The quarterback battle will be an intriguing one as two veterans will be starting for their teams. Brett Favre will be making his 264th straight start this week in Tennessee and Kerry Collins continues his stellar play this season after being pressed into service after starter Vince Young's injuries and personal problems. Over the last two weeks in tough road matchups in Chicago and Jacksonville, Collins has risen to the occasion by throwing for 519 yards, five touchdowns and only one interception.
Favre meanwhile has survived a tough start to his season but completing 77 percent of his throws. Two weeks ago in a 47-3 rout of St. Louis he did not throw an interception which was notable because he had been picked off in every game since he went interception-less in Week 1 against Miami. During those seven games he threw 12 interceptions, but last week against New England in a 34-31 overtime victory, Favre was able to go without an interception for the second straight game.
Perhaps the emergence of the Jets rushing attack has allowed Favre to be more relaxed in the pocked. Thomas Jones now leads the AFC in rushing with 854 yards. He has scored eight touchdowns in the last five games and has rushed for two straight 100 yard games.
Favre and Jones will face possibly the biggest defensive test of the season Sunday afternoon when they face the Titans' defense that has allowed the fewest points in the league and is second with 15 picks and third with 28 sacks, 10 of which have come in the last three weeks. Jones should beware as Tennessee has only allowed one 100-yard rusher this season.
Tennessee was able to beat New York last season 10-6 in Nashville which ended a three game losing streak in the series dating back to 1998.
It’s a tale of two decent teams looking to get a leg up in their respective divisions when the Minnesota Vikings visit the Louisiana Superdome on Monday night.
Both squads are coming off pretty decent games, with Drew Brees passing for 363 yards and two scores, even without Marques Colston and Jeremy Shockey in the lineup, in a 31-17 win over the San Francisco 49ers.
By contrast, Minnesota moved the ball well, but three turnovers did them in in a 30-17 loss to the Tennessee Titans. Gus Frerotte threw the ball 43 times, connecting on 25 of them, for 266 yards, but accounted for two turnovers. Frerotte will start on Monday.
While the New Orleans Saints are listed as three-point favorites, I’ll go out on a limb and say Minnesota can get the upset. The Saints’ defense is banged up, especially in the interior, with first round pick Sedrick Ellis out for this game with a knee injury, and linebacker Troy Evans listed as probable. Even if those two were in, Adrian Peterson could have a field day. With Peterson pounding away at the Saints defense, Frerotte may not have to chuck it 43 times this game. Brees might have to, though, as the Viking defense is one of the tops in the NFL at shutting down the run game, allowing only 71.8 yards on the ground per game. With the Saints’ offense geared mostly toward passing, this may allow the line to pin their ears back and let the dogs out on a Minnesota line that has allowed 10 sacks in four games this year.
Even though the crowd noise at the Dome can be much, I feel that Minnesota may pull out the win here. It’ll be narrow, but if the Viking line is as adept at harassing Brees as they are at gobbling up enemy runners, it’ll be a long day in the ‘Dome for the Saints.
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