Tennessee Tries For Three-In-A-Row

NFL News - November 9th, 2009 - Written by John

All of the sudden, the Tennessee Titans are a force in the NFL. After being left for dead following an 0-7 start, and turning to back-up Vince Young for answers, the Titans have won their last two games and have begun to pose a real threat to anyone on their schedule. It's quite possible they get to 5-6 before their rematch against the Indianapolis Colts the first week of December.

But this week it's the Buffalo Bills. The Titans are favored by 6 1/2 points, according to BetUS, and both teams are delivering a -110 payout with the spread according to our NFL Week 10 Betting Odds. Recent history suggests the Bills will at least keep it competitive, covering the spread in five of their last road games against the AFC South. The Titans, meanwhile, are 0-5 ATS against AFC East teams.

But Tennessee seems to be reborn since Week Six, when head coach Jeff Fisher submitted to owner Bud Adams' wishes. After starting 0-6 and heading into a bye, he benched Kerry Collins in order to give Young another crack at the starting job and save some of the franchise's dignity. He's done a bit more. In his two starts, the third-year man has thrown for 297 yards and had his hand in two touchdowns to be Jacksonville and San Francisco. More importantly, he hasn't turned the ball over yet, and seems collected in the pocket.

It's been relatively easy with Chris Johnson in the backfield. Poised to be the first NFL back to reach 1,000 yards, Johnson has carried the Titans with his legs all year. He has hit the 125-yard mark four times this year, rushing for a season-best 228 yards against the Jaguars, and has 959 total. He leads the league with 6.7 yards per carry on 144 rushes, and has seven total scores.

Johnson, however, has never faced Buffalo. The last time the two teams met was in December of 2006. That year, the Titans again started slow, at 0-5, and Young reeled off six-straight wins to finish 8-8. The last of those wins was a 30-29 victory over the Bills, where Travis Henry rushed for 135 yards.

Tennessee isn't quite out of the woods yet. They still have the second-worst defense in the league, surrendering nearly 30 a game, and are allowing more passing yards than anyone.

Buffalo is coming off a bye week, winners of two of their last three. A win this week sets up a run in which they have four winnable games against Jacksonville, Miami, New York (A) and Kansas City. That would put them in contention with the New England Patriots, who play Indianapolis, New York (A) and New Orleans over the next three weeks.

Trent Edwards will likely be back in the huddle this week after sitting out three-straight with a concussion. He had an extra week to recover due to the bye, although rumors about acquiring Mike Vick probably didn't help.

To learn more about what is expected from the game be sure to check out our NFL Week 10 Game Previews which will clue you in to all of the NFL games going on during week 10 of the 2009 NFL season.

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