Tennessee Titans at San Diego Chargers

Written by Steve Janus

This Sunday the San Diego Chargers will look avoid their fourth straight loss when they host the Tennessee Titans. Last week the Chargers came up just short against the Patriots, losing 23-20, while the Titans rolled over the Eagles 37-19. If you are thinking about betting on the game this weekend, the current NFL odds have the Chargers favored by 3.5-points over the Titans at home.

Tennessee (5-2): With their win over the Eagles last week, the Titans have now won three straight, and appear as if they aren’t going anywhere in the AFC. Last week against the Eagles the Titans actually trailed 16-10 going into the fourth quarter, but the offense exploded for 27 points and the Titans won easily.

A big reason the Titans won last week was the play of wide out Kenny Britt, who caught seven passes for 225 yards and three touchdowns, giving him at least one touchdown in each of the past five games. Quarterback Kerry Collins had an up and down day, throwing for 276 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. It appears as if Vince Young will be under center this week for the Titans, but his status is still not officially known.

What was really impressive was the Titans scored all these points without much help from running back Chris Johnson, who had just 66 yards on 24 carries. Johnson figures to have another tough day ahead of him this week, as the Chargers come in allowing just 86 yards a game on the ground.

For Tennessee to win this week they are going to have to hope the Chargers continue to make mistakes, and then be sure to capitalize on them. Also they have to take advantage of the Chargers horrific special teams play.

San Diego (2-5): Very rarely will you see a team that comes in midway through the season ranked first in total offense and defense with a 2-5 record, but the Chargers continue to make mistake after mistake and allow the other team to find a way to win.

The offense will more than likely welcome back tight end Antonio Gates this week, and I think that is huge for this team, as they try and make another run at a strong finish to win the AFC West. It would be nice to see rookie running back Ryan Matthews get going, but the Chargers simply aren’t giving him the workload to be a major factor. Either way I don’t expect the Chargers to try and run the ball all that much this week, as Tennessee comes in 10th against the run allowing just under 98 yards a game.

For San Diego to win this game, they simply have to keep from turning over the football, and not allow the big plays on special teams. The Chargers have been killed in both of these areas all season.

Looking at the Odds: As bad as the Chargers have looked this season, I think they really matchup well with the Titans. San Diego has the defense to control the ground game of Johnson and the corners to slow down Britt. On offense I think the Chargers will really exploit the Titans secondary for a lot of big plays, and I think they end up winning this game pretty easily. My final score prediction is San Diego 31, Tennessee 23.

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