In life there are winners and losers; the Tennessee Titans will follow-up their season-opening loss to the Minnesota Vikings with a visit to the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on Sunday, September 18th. The Lions beat the Indianapolis Colts 39-35, but whether that makes them the favorite of people betting on NFL against the Titans has yet to be seen:
Titans +5½ (-110) 47 (-110)
Lions -5½ (-110) 47 (-110)
On Sunday 11th, the Lions picked up only their second win in Indianapolis, though it didn’t quite look that way with 8 seconds remaining on the clock. Kicker Matt Prater could have cost the Lions the game when he missed an extra point wide right with 4:04 left. He surely could have just kicked himself. Fortunately for him – and for Detroit fans who enjoy NFL betting –, Prater made up for that with a 43-yard field goal only 37 seconds after Andrew Luck drove the Colts 75 yards and hit Jack Doyle on a 6-yard touchdown pass. The subsequent extra point gave Indy a 35-34 lead. However, as Lions wide receiver Golden Tate said, QB Matthew Stafford “can be real dangerous.” Stafford lost no time in getting the Lions into position for Prater to kick the winning field goal. Stafford threw 31 of 39 for 340 passing yards with three TDs and no interceptions.
The Titans on the other hand, lost to the Vikings 16-25, as expected by fans betting on NFL. Tennessee didn’t go down without a fight, though. The Titans did like Francis X. Clampazzo and put the clamps on the league’s 2015 rushing leader Adrian Petersen. The running back had 31 yards on 19 carries. Titans RB DeMarco Murray caught two touchdowns passes from QB Marcus Mariota, and hurdled a defender for a 6-yard TD catch right before halftime. Tennessee was behind by two points when Mariota attempted to force a quick throw under pressure to Harry Douglas that was by intercepted by Eric Kendricks who duly returned it 77 yards for the touchdown with 1:24 remaining in the third quarter. Things unraveled for the Titans from there, as Mariota lost the pigskin after trying to hand it off to Murray, which Danielle Hunter picked up and returned for his own TD. Following that, Murray lost a fumble on the next drive.
If the Titans want to bounce back from that season-opening loss, then their running game needs to get back to what it was only a few weeks ago. The Titans’ attack finished second in the league in rushing yards during the preseason, but was grounded against the Vikings. Mariota, Murray, and rookie Derrick Henry rushed only 64 yards on 22 carries. All things considered, these three paid the price of inexperience, which in turns means that Tennessee fans who did a little betting on NFL did not get paid. But who knows? Maybe Titan Santa will bring them the early Christmas present of regular season running game and they will have a better chance against the Lions.
