Jaguars vs. Titans: Odds, weather, injuries, looking for revenge in Week 12
By Ravi Konjeti
The Tennessee Titans are looking to stay in race for the AFC South crown this week against the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Tennessee Titans will be well-rested coming off a bye week when the Jacksonville Jaguars come to Nissan Stadium in Nashville this Sunday in a rematch from Week 3 at 3:05 P.M. CT on CBS.
The Titans’ latest win comes against the high-powered Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes, while the Jaguars are reeling from a blowout defeat against the Indianapolis Colts this past weekend.
Both teams’ playoff hopes are alive in a crowded AFC wild card race, and the Titans are still in the running for the AFC South. However, there is no margin for error for either team.
Jaguars vs. Titans: Betting Odds and Lines
While the Titans are home this weekend, they only opened as 2.5-point favorites, courtesy of The Action Network. The line has since moved with the Titans currently as 3.5-point favorites. The Titans lost to the Jaguars earlier in the season, which could have prompted the smaller opening line.
The Titans (-185) have received nearly 66% of the bets so far as the moneyline favors them over the Jaguars (+155).
The over/under is at 41.5 points, driven by the two low-scoring offenses. The Titans sit at 22nd in scoring offense, while the Jaguars are at 26th in scoring offense. Both offenses have struggled to move the ball into the end zone this season and there is no reason to think otherwise in this matchup. In the early season matchup, the Jaguars won in a low-scoring, 20-7 game.
Weather
The forecast in Nashville is calling for clear conditions and temperature in the 50’s, however a drizzle is possible throughout the day. Winds should be at six to seven MPH during the game, per NFLWeather.com.
Injuries
For the Titans, they look to be mostly healthy. Veteran tight end Delanie Walker is doubtful and doesn’t look like he will play, but everyone else is a go. Of course, the Titans will also be without cornerback Malcolm Butler, who was placed on injured reserve after the Week 9 game.
The Jaguars are pretty much equally healthy. Every player listed on the final injury report in Week 12 with the exception of one practiced fully on Friday and carries no designation. Tight end Seth DeValve is the exception, as he’s been ruled out with an oblique injury.
Titans looking for revenge
The Titans and Jaguars played earlier in the season in a Week 3 game Thursday Night game. The Titans got trounced by upstart Gardner Minshew in a 20-7 battle. However, both teams look drastically different in this week’s matchup.
Both teams are bringing in different starting quarterbacks in Ryan Tannehill for the Titans and Nick Foles for the Jaguars.
Tannehill has been much better under center for the Titans and has woken up the offense after an abysmal start under Marcus Mariota’s leadership. Tannehill has put together three game-winning drives in his four starts, while putting up 20-plus points in each of his starts.
While Tannehill has done well picking up the pieces for the offense, they have gone up against low-tier defenses in the past three weeks. While the Jaguars are not much better, they do boast one of the best defensive fronts in the NFL. The Jaguars wreaked havoc last time, posting a monstrous nine sacks in stunting the entire Titans offense.
On the other side of the ball, the Jaguars are also going through their own quarterback shift with the return of Foles to the starting lineup.
After getting hurt in Week 1, Foles was placed on IR and the offense was handed over to Minshew. While Minshew was electric for the Jaguars, even sneaking into Offensive Rookie of the Year conversation, he was unable to put together the consistency to keep Foles on the bench.
With Foles’ first game back last week, the Jaguars offense looked just as anemic, posting 13 points, seven of which came in garbage time. The Jaguars wanted Foles to be a high-volume thrower, reflected in the paltry eight carries given to Leonard Fournette.
The Jaguars have one of the best running backs in the league this season and he has been vital in the Jaguars’ success. It will be interesting to see if the Jaguars go back to a run-heavy offense to allow Foles to flourish from the play-action and RPO offense that he ran in Philadelphia.
The key for both teams will be to sustain their run games and score early. If Tennessee can get on the scoreboard first, it can focus on getting bruising running back Derrick Henry carries to chew the game clock.
Similarly, the Jaguars need to get Fournette more carries and score early. The Jaguars were successful when they forced the Titans to pass the ball so they could unleash the vaunted edge rushers against a porous Titans O-Line.