Crucial Division Battle Between Tennessee And Jacksonville

NFL News - September 29th, 2009 - Written by John

Titans at Jaguars -- The Tennessee Titans were the last remaining unbeaten team last season. But three weeks into '09, they are simply looking for their first. They are favored again this week to pull out of their funk. According to BetUS, Tennessee is listed at -3 despite being on the road in Jacksonville. Taking them with the points nets a payout of -105, while taking the Jaguars lands a -115 bounty.

The Titans are more than likely favored because Jacksonville offers one of the NFL's least hostile environments. They have already been blacked out in their first home game and this one holds a high probability of the same. The club has even decided to hold from announcing the stadium's attendance because of the humility.

Regardless, conventional thinking would suggest that the Jaguars know this is a crucial division game and it is in now way a gimme. They already won a big game on the road against Houston last week, despite the underdog label.

Maurice Jones-Drew almost single-handedly carried the Jaguars out of the basement of the AFC South, rushing for 113 yards and three touchdowns to beat the Texans. And despite a rocky start, the Jaguars could actually have a leg up to contend with Indianapolis. A win here would mean Jacksonville has beaten the other two teams and will put them at a reasonable 2-2 overall.

The Titans, however, desperately need this game. Almost everyone would jump on the chance to take Tennessee at minus three if it was offered at the beginning of the season, but it feels like a coin-flip after a miserable start to the season. First, they dropped the opener in overtime to the Super Bowl champs, then were beaten by Houston, 31-24, despite gaining over 250 yards on the ground. And last Sunday, rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez managed to become the first Jets quarterback to win three in a row when he ripped through the Titans' defense twice late in the game. Chris Johnson has been a freak so far, averaging 6.6 yards a carry, but the passing game hasn't backed him up.

Recent history is pretty even between the pair. Since 2004, both teams have five wins and neither has more than two in a row. The Titans will try to fix that after beating the Jaguars both times last season.

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