The Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars will meet during Week 12 of the 2012-13 NFL season on November 25, 2012. The game will be played at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Florida. These are some picks against the spread for that contest.
The Jaguars have a 1-9 record. The Titans have a 4-6 record. These teams have played to regular-season splits in 2009, 2010 and 2011. The last time they played was on Christmas Eve 2011. The Titans won 23-17.
The early spread is Titans (-3). The over-under total is 44.5. As of November 21, all odds are from Yahoo! Sports. Click the “Key Injuries” for injury reports from official team websites.
Week 11 Results
Tennessee Titans (Bye)
Jacksonville Jaguars 37 at Houston Texans 43
Key Injuries: Tennessee Titans (As of November 21)
TE Craig Stevens
Key Injuries: Jacksonville Jaguars (As of November 21)
RB Maurice Jones-Drew (Out), OL Brad Meester, CB Rashean Mathis, CB Dwight Lowery
Keys To The Game
Titans: Consistency
Chad Henne and Justin Blackmon vs. Titans’ Secondary
Chris Johnson vs. Jaguars’ Run-Defense
Quarterback Pressures and Sacks
Titans’ Red-Zone Defense (Bend-But-Don’t-Break)?
Turnovers
Summary
The Titans and Jaguars are both below .500. However, their most-recent games have shown teams who played better than their record indicates. After a 51-20 loss to the Chicago Bears, the Titans beat the Miami Dolphins 37-3. And while the Jaguars have a 1-9 record, they nearly won a road game against the Houston Texans. The Texans have a 9-1 record.
The Jaguars put Blaine Gabbert on injured reserve. Barring injury, Chad Henne will finish the season as the starting quarterback. While Henne has thrown five touchdowns in his last two games, he has completed 53.1 percent of his passes. Against the Texans, Henne completed 16-of-33 passes for 354 yards and four touchdowns.
How will Chris Johnson perform after the bye week? The Jaguars have the NFL’s 29th-ranked run-defense. They allow 138.6 yards per game. These numbers are skewed because they’ve trailed in most of their games. Their opponents are trying to run out the clock.
As far as pass-defense, Matt Schaub completed 43-of-55 passes for 527 yards and five touchdowns. They’ll have their hands full against an offense that includes Kenny Britt, Nate Washington, Kendall Wright and Jared Cook. My only concern would deal with rust after the bye week.
Does home-field advantage help the Jaguars? They’ve lost all five of their home games. The combined score in these contests: 153-44. They closest they’ve come to beating anyone in those games: a 17-point loss.
The Titans could easily score 30 points. They have the offensive weapons to do it. However, this team is known for losing divisional games that they shouldn’t lose. Just think back to the Luke McCown-led Jaguars team in 2011. Don’t forget the 0-13 Indianapolis Colts team in 2011. The Titans lost both of those games.
Tennessee Titans (-3) at Jacksonville Jaguars: The Pick
Against The Spread: Tennessee Titans (-3)
Straight: Tennessee Titans 31, Jacksonville Jaguars 17
Joshua Huffman graduated from Middle Tennessee State University as a marketing major in 2009. He’s been a Middle Tennessee resident from 1986-88 and 2001-present. He lived in the Upper Peninsula and Northern Wisconsin from 1988-01 and for approximately eight months in 2009-10 as he completed a 20-game volunteer position with the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers. His favorite sports organizations include the Green Bay Packers, Chicago Cubs, Nashville Predators and Tennessee Titans. He can be found on Twitter HERE.
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