Tennessee Titans vs. Denver Broncos NFL Sports Betting Guide
Just when it seemed as though the Tennessee Titans were on the verge of turning a corner, they came crashing back down to earth. Like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, this might be among the NFL’s most challenging teams to handicap.
One week after stomping the Atlanta Falcons in Atlanta, the Titans came home and lost to the Buffalo Bills in a game where they weren’t nearly as competitive. Can they get it together and go on the road to beat Denver or will this Titans team drop to 2-4?
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Details
- Opening Line: Pick’ Em
- Current Line: Denver -2.5
- Over/Under: 40
- Location: Empower Field at Mile High, Denver, Colorado
- Start Time: 4:25 PM ET
- Last Meeting: Broncos 10 at Titans 13 (12/11/16)
View consensus picks from 100+ experts for the Titans at Broncos >>
Overview
Tennessee will go back to the drawing board after being held to seven points at home against the Bills in Week 5. Part of that was because they missed four field goals. This appears to be an ongoing issue as the team has cut Cairo Santos.
The Titans have averaged 19.6 points per game this season, which isn’t nearly good enough for a potential playoff contender. A big part of the problem is the fact that Tennessee has struggled to protect Marcus Mariota against good pass rushes this season as he’s been sacked a league-high 22 times entering Week 6. The other part of that problem is that Mariota has held onto the football for too long, which gives those teams sack opportunities. At the same time, it’s on the Titans’ coaching staff to do a better job scheming receivers open and helping him succeed.
Mariota is clearly a mess, though, and he’s holding this team back. Sure, he has seven touchdowns and no picks on the year, which isn’t bad, but he’s completed 19 passes or less in four of his five games. In the modern-day NFL, teams have to have a better passing game than that. It’s great that he’s not throwing picks, but his QBR is just 27th, so that gives you an idea of how he’s struggled.
Meanwhile, Denver is coming off a 20-13 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers for its first win of the season. It hasn’t been pretty, but the Broncos have kept games close with an average scoring margin of just 3.2 points per game this season. Realistically, they could be 3-2 right now.
The biggest issue is that the Denver offense has been held to just 18.0 points per game. It won’t get any easier for them this week against a Tennessee defense that matches up well against them. Joe Flacco hasn’t been elite this season, but he’s been a huge upgrade over what the Broncos had at this time last year. The passing game is functional under Flacco, and if they can continue to run like they did last week (192 rushing yards), they’ll be in games.
Meanwhile, it will be on linebackers Von Miller, Alexander Johnson, and company to get after Mariota in this one. The Broncos’ pass rush struggled out of the gate this season but has five sacks and eight tackles for a loss in their last two contests.
Trends
- Titans are 0-4 SU in last 4 October games
- Under is 4-1 in Tennessee’s last 5 games
- Denver is 4-11 SU in last 15 home games
- Broncos are 5-0 SU in last 5 home games vs. Titans
Bottom Line
The Broncos’ biggest weakness on defense this season has been the pass defense as they have had a hard time pressuring opposing quarterbacks. Well, this matchup figures to play into their hands as Mariota hangs onto the ball too long, doesn’t complete too many passes, and takes a lot of sacks. As long as Denver can cut-off the Titans’ ground game, they should earn a second straight win.
The concern is that they’re giving up 126.4 rushing yards per game (22nd in the NFL), but that’s mostly inflated by the 269 rushing yards they gave up to the Jacksonville Jaguars a couple of weeks ago. Aside from that game, they’re allowing just 90.8 per game, which would rank them in the top 10 in the league.
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Check out our other NFL Sports Betting Guides for Week 6
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Houston Texans vs. Kansas City Chiefs (-4)
New Orleans Saints vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (-2.5)
Philadelphia Eagles vs. Minnesota Vikings (-3)
Washington Redskins vs. Miami Dolphins (+3.5)
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Baltimore Ravens (-10.5)
Carolina Panthers vs. Tampa Bay (+2)
Dallas Cowboys vs. New York Jets (+7)
Atlanta Falcons vs. Arizona Cardinals (+2.5)
San Francisco 49ers vs. Los Angeles Rams (-3)
Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Los Angeles Chargers (-6.5)
Detroit Lions vs. Green Bay Packers (-3.5)
Dave Golokhov is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Dave, check out his archive and follow him @davegolokhov.