Tennessee Titans at New York Jets Odds
The Tennessee Titans head north to take on the New York Jets this Sunday at the Meadowlands in a Week 3 AFC showdown. The Titans, who finished with the best record in the AFC last season, are yet to get in the win column, losing another heartbreaker to division rival Houston last week. The Jets are now 2-0 under rookie QB Mark Sanchez after defeating AFC East rival New England 16-9 in Week 2. These teams last met a season ago when the Jets went down to Tennessee and handed the then 10-0 Titans a 34-13 defeat. New York has won four of the last five meetings, but Tennessee still owns a 22-16-1 lead in the all-time series. NFL lines makers have listed the New York Jets as a 3-point favorite with the total set at 37.
Not too many people expected the Tennessee Titans to be 0-2 at this points. Losing at Pittsburgh was not a big surprise, but going down at home to a Texans team that the Jets beat 24-7 on the road did come as a bit of a shocker. The worst part is the Titans held a 21-7 lead in that game. It’s a long season and the Titans are far from out of the hunt yet, but this week’s game must be approached as a must win situation.
The Jets were prepared for a rebuilding season with a rookie QB, but last week’s win over the Patriots showed us that they are ready to challenge for an AFC East title right now. The biggest worry for them this week would be a letdown after an emotional win over the Patriots, something they hadn’t done at home since 2000.
At this point, Mark Sanchez is exceeding expectations, showing poise in the pocket and touch on his passes beyond his years. Now, he gets an opportunity to face the NFL’s worst passing defense through the first two weeks of the season. Ben Roethlisberger torched the Titans secondary in Week 1 and Matt Schaub did it last week. If Sanchez has a big game this week, the Jets have a great opportunity to improve to 3-0.
Defensively, Rex Ryan has one thing, and one thing only, on his mind this week, and that’s stopping the run. The Titans’ Chris Johnson is the AFC’s leading rusher after a huge 197-yard day against the Texans last week. The Jets are currently the NFL’s No. 1 defense, and facing a formidable Tennessee running game will serve as another measuring stick for Ryan’s club. It is worth noting that the Titans are 0-5 against the spread in the last five meetings in this series.
I think Rex Ryan and his defense would prefer to play against passing teams so they can take target practice on opposing quarterbacks all game long. They won’t have that luxury this week as Tennessee is going to run the football with Chris Johnson and LenDale White until New York can stop it. And then when they do, they’ll look to get Johnson the ball through the air as well. Johnson added nine grabs for 87 yards to go along with his huge rushing total last week. I’m not worried about the Tennessee offense, but I am worried about a defense that allowed Matt Schaub to throw for 357 yards and four touchdowns for a 127.8 passer rating in Week 2. The Titans are going to have to do a better job of defending the pass this week or Sanchez will be the next QB in line to pick apart the secondary. We need to see Jevon Kearse and company living in the Jets backfield this week to give the defensive backs a shot. It is worth noting that the Titans are 17-5 against the spread in their last 22 games as an underdog and the Jets are 0-5 against the number in their last five games as a favorite.