NFL ·
9/19/21 NFL TITANS VS SEAHAWKS
TENNESSEE @ SEATTLE (SEA -5.5, 54)
TITANS vs. SEAHAWKS 9/19/21
If you place a wager on this game based on what you saw last week, you deserve to lose. You have to look deeper than just taking one on the chin against Arizona in Week 1. The Titans are a better football team than that. Are they good enough to beat the Seahawks in Seattle?
The Titans did just about everything wrong last week. Derrick Henry had just 58 yards rushing. Ryan Tannehill was sacked six times, threw a pick, and fumbled the ball away twice. The Tennessee defense got sliced and diced for four Kyler Murray touchdown passes and the Cardinals even rushed for 136 yards.
Don’t expect that to continue. Head coach Mike Vrabel will get the Titans back on track. First order of operation – a giant dose of the bulldozing Henry on the ground. Seattle will present a tough test with a decent run defense, but the Titans will do what they do best and that is hand the ball to Henry.
What the punishing ground game of the Titans does is it opens up the play action passing game. That’s where Tannehill excels. With the run action, the likelihood of a sack is reduced. Tennessee cannot give up six sacks again.
Seattle heads into Sunday’s game favored by 5.5 after beating Indy last week 28-16. They covered the spread in that game, but they are only 4-6 ATS in their last ten games. Tennessee isn’t a cover machine either, but historically they have performed well against the Seahawks. The Titans are 5-1 ATS in their last six games against Seattle.
Let’s not forget this either. The Titans are 20-10-2 ATS since the start of the 2016 season in games following a straight up loss. That’s even better than NFL teams that lose as a favorite in Week 1 and then get an ATS win in Week 2. That number is 55 percent.
Ground and pound with Henry will create some big play action opportunities for Tannehill and receivers AJ Brown and Julio Jones. That will be enough for the Titans to cover the 5.5 on Sunday.