The Tennessee Titans seemed to be ready to have a big season when they roughed up the Kansas City Chiefs, 26-10, in their first regular season game. It’s been all downhill ever since. They now face the Colts on Sunday in hopes of rebounding.
Tennessee Titans @ Indianapolis Colts
Sunday, September 28th – 1:00 PM ET
Odds: Indianapolis -7.5
Why The Titans Will Cover
They are going to be motivated this weekend after coming up with two very limp and timid performances over the previous two weeks. The Titans didn’t merely beat the Kansas City Chiefs in week one; they crushed them, 26-10. Since then Tennessee has become a completely different team, losing to Dallas by a 26-10 score and then getting blasted by the Cincinnati Bengals this past weekend. It’s not as though the Titans haven’t had chances to make plays. They should have been able to stop the throwback pass the Bengals used to give quarterback Andy Dalton a receiving touchdown. The Titans just need to make simple plays like that in order to get better. They also simply need quarterback Jake Locker to avoid throwing the two interceptions he suffered against Cincinnati. There are a lot of preventable mistakes this team can address and if the Titans make fixes in these areas, they should get better. A team that has lost two straight early in the season should be very focused on preventing that losing streak from going to three games. The Indianapolis Colts prevented a three-game losing streak last weekend. Maybe Tennessee will now be the team that wards off a prolonged skid. The Colts have been a very inconsistent team this year, too. If Tennessee can make a few high-impact plays in the first half, it can take control of this game.
Why The Colts Will Cover
They have the better team. The thing to realize about the Colts is that they’ve played a rough schedule so far in 2014. They lost at the Denver Broncos and then played a home game against a Philadelphia Eagle team that’s now 3-0. The Colts are now moving into one of the less challenging portions of their schedule. This, as much as anything else, is a reason to pick them over a Tennessee team that is spiraling downward. The Titans didn’t play teams close during their two-game losing streak. They’ve lost their last two games by 16 and then 26 points. Indianapolis has yet to win a home game this season, but every rational person knows that the Colts are going to win their share of home games, especially in a weak AFC South Division. Andrew Luck is going to carve up the teams on the schedule that aren’t as strong as the Broncos and Eagles. This is why the Colts should be the choice against an unsteady quarterback, Jake Locker of Tennessee.
Outlook
The Colts are better than the Titans in just about every way, and it’s very hard to see Indianapolis falling to 1-3 after this game. Tennessee will probably not be able to turn things around just yet.
Pick: Colts -7.5
