Titans at Jaguars: Game preview, odds, prediction
The Tennessee Titans can smell a playoff berth. But will they stumble against a Jacksonville Jaguars team that has a new head coach at the helm?
It’s been a big year for the Tennessee Titans, a team that reworked its roster this offseason and it has come together in a big way.
But it has been an enormously disappointing season for the 2-12 Jacksonville Jaguars, who fired head coach Gus Bradley shortly after the team blew a double-digit lead at Houston last Sunday.
It’s Mike Mularkey’s team that is the focal point here. The Titans are 8-6 after amassing a 5-27 record the past two seasons combined. They remain tied with the Houston Texans atop the AFC South and have a chance to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2008. The reasons for the turnaround are numerous.
Odds
Line: Titans (-4.5)
Over/Under: 43.5
What can you say about Titans running back DeMarco Murray? One year after being mostly a non-factor on Chip Kelly’s 7-9 Philadelphia Eagles, he’s become Tennessee’s offensive catalyst. While second-year quarterback Marcus Mariota has enjoyed an excellent year, you could argue that really doesn’t happen without the play of the 2014 NFL Offensive Player of the Year (with the Dallas Cowboys).
Murray ranks second in the league with 1,224 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground on 268 carries this season. In 15 games with the Eagles a year ago, he ran for only 702 yards and six scores on only 193 attempts.
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It’s worth noting that this has been an extremely interesting series. While Tennessee did roll the Jaguars earlier this season, these clubs have split their two-game set each of the previous seven years. But this is a Jacksonville club that has underachieved in many ways in 2016. They will hang tough and make the Titans earn everything they get. But you could also see Murray breaking a big run late in the game to make the margin of victory a bit more impressive.
Pick: Titans 29, Jaguars 17