Playoff Hopes Dangling As Tennessee Titans Host Miami Dolphins

NFL News - December 15th, 2009 - Written by John

Of all the teams clawing for their playoff lives, only two will be playing against each other this week. In a de-facto elimination game, the Tennessee Titans host the Miami Dolphins this week in a game that will stump one of the teams' drive for the postseason.

The Titans are favored by four in the NFL Week 15 Betting Odds, according to SportsBetting.com, with a total of 43. They are certainly the hotter team of the two, winning five of their last six games.

But Tennessee hasn't made it easy on itself. With Kerry Collins under center, the Titans started the year 0-6 and are just now getting back to square-one. A win this Sunday would put them at .500 for the first time this season, and propel them to the front of the line for the final playoff spot. The New York Jets, Baltimore Ravens and Jacksonville Jaguars are all ahead of them at 7-6.

Miami is also 7-6 and doesn't technically need a win to stay in contention. But falling to 7-7, and thus losing the tiebreak to Tennessee, would essentially spell the end of the line.

The Dolphins have won two in a row after flopping against the Buffalo Bills, and are winners of five of their last seven. It's been a dramatic turnaround from their 0-3 start to the year that put them far behind in the AFC East. Now, there are odds on BetUS, giving Miami +550 odds to take the division crown for the second-consecutive year.

Chad Henne has surged into the headlines with 555 passing yards over the last two games, the best two-game stretch this season, and has had a hand in at least one touchdown in five-straight games.

His job has been made exponentially easier with the terrific play from Ricky Williams, who has 100 yards rushing in four of the last five games. He had 108 last week against the Jacksonville Jaguars that kept his team alive, and his 10 rushing touchdowns are ninth-best in the NFL.

But nothing can be said about rushing in the NFL without mentioning Chris Johnson. The sophomore leads all runners with 1,626 yards after his eight-straight 100-yard game last week. He is on pace to barely reach 2,000 yards, which would make him only the second rusher this decade to hit that mark. Jamal Lewis in 2003 was the other.

His 2009 season has made him the only rusher in NFL history to have six-straight 125-plus-yard games and he has recently become the focus of MVP talk. He likely won't win if the Titans fail to reach the playoffs, but it's impressive considering the team's lack of success, and two quarterbacks in the league guiding undefeated teams.

Miami and Tennessee make up two of the top-three rushing teams in the league.

The Titans are 1-7 ATS against teams with a winning record, although they are 8-3 ATS in their last 11 Week 15 games.