Who will prevent the absolute false start with a win?
Can a crisis duel already be written in week three? Opinions are divided on that, but in any case two winless teams will meet in the “American Music City”. On Sunday evening at 19:00, the Tennessee Titans welcome the Las Vegas Raiders for the third game of the season. The bookmakers’ odds see the franchise from the “City of Sin” with a slight advantage.
If the Titans’ defeat on the first day of the season could still be classified as incompetence, the best team in the NFL at the moment gave them an object lesson in the “Monday Night Game”. Against the Bills, Tennessee was inferior in all respects and statistics.
The Raiders’ losses both fall more into the “incompetence” category. Both times head coach Josh McDaniels’ team showed good performances, but both times it was not enough. Against Arizona, Las Vegas led 20-0 until the middle of the third quarter and then gave the game away in overtime due to their own mistakes.
Tennessee Titans – Statistics & current form
When a quarterback is replaced in the middle of a game, it can be for a variety of reasons. In the Titans’ case, playmaker Tannehill’s performance against the Bills was the deciding factor. With 7:40 left in the game and after his second interception of the game, which was returned for a touchdown by the Bills, head coach Mike Vrabel banished his actual starting quarterback to the bench. Rookie Malik Willis took over, however, with manageable success.
The weak offensive line becomes a problem
It is likely that Ryan Tannehill will start again in the home game against the Raiders. However, his stats in week two were subterranean with 117 passing yards and eleven of 20 touched balls. That was also reflected in his quarterback rating of 32.7. Only two of his pass receivers caught more than one ball from him, including veteran Robert Woods, who came over the summer break from Super Bowl champion Los Angeles.
Superstar running back Derrick Henry had an extremely bad day, running for an average of 1.9 yards and only 25 total rushing yards. That was the worst figure in a regular season game for him since 14.10.2018. Partly responsible for that, just like for the poor performance of his quarterback, was on the one hand the weak offensive line, but on the other hand, of course, also the outstanding defence opposite.
The defence that now awaits the Titans is not comparable in terms of level. That’s why the running game will become more important, which will then also make the play-action passing game easier for Tannehill. In the Titans vs Raiders game, our prediction is that the home side’s offence can deliver a much better performance.
Key Players:
QB: Ryan Tannehill
RB: Derrick Henry
WR: Robert Woods
TE: Austin Hooper
K: Randy Bullock
Las Vegas Raiders – Statistics & current form
However, there is no defence waiting for the Titans, who have been a total failure so far. Rather the opposite. They’ve actually been really strong for a half in each game. In week one against the Chargers, they held the strong offence to seven points in the second half and against the Cardinals they didn’t allow any points until the middle of the third quarter. In the end, the Raiders still have a record of 0-2, which can only be partially attributed to the Raiders defence.
Lost the thread offensively after half-time
Because part of the truth is that the offense, which dominated the Cardinals in the first half and had carved out a 20-0 lead at the break, managed only three meager points in the second. Quarterback Derek Carr, who did not throw an interception, performed well overall. His teammates around him also managed to protect him much better and so in the end only one sack was recorded.
Inevitably, he varied his starting positions much more than in the previous week, when he looked for his new number one receiver Adams in every important situation. He caught another touchdown, but this time only two of seven balls for a total of twelve yards. The game showed very clearly that Davante Adams attracts so much attention from the opposing defence that his teammates get great open spaces. That will be part of the match plan against the Titans as well, and the multiple options on offense will pose huge problems for the injury-plagued Titans defence.
The Las Vegas defence allowed an average of 109 running and 274 passing yards per game and conceded an average of 26.5 points. Now the run defence will probably be challenged much more than in the previous games. The biggest question is how well the Raiders can defend Henry’s power runs. So between the Titans and Raiders, a prediction on a Henry touchdown is anything but far-fetched.
Key Players:
QB: Derek Carr
RB: Josh Jacobs
WR: Davante Adames
TE: Darren Waller
K: Daniel Carlson
Tennessee Titans – Las Vegas Raiders Head-to-head comparison / H2H record
The first time the game will take place under this naming convention. In 2019, the then Oakland Raiders hosted the Tennessee Titans. In that matchup, Tennessee came out on top, winning by a wide margin of 42-21, but the Raiders won the last three visiting games in Nashville, where Tennessee plays its home games. Will the Raiders also manage a win in the upcoming away game at the Titans? The betting odds for this are around 1.78.
The assumption is that no 63 points will be scored between the two teams in the upcoming match. The scheduled over/under limit of 45.5 points is also significantly lower. In the Titans vs. Raiders matchup, we are leaning towards a bet that this mark will be reached.
Tennessee Titans – Las Vegas Raiders Tip
We think both teams can cause huge problems offensively for the opposing defence. Then again, that speaks to plenty of points. For at least five touchdowns in the game, the tested bookmaker Bet365 offers odds of 1.62 between the Titans vs. Raiders. The risk variant, which should be played with correspondingly fewer units, would be to place a bet on at least six touchdowns.
The Raiders have the slightly better matchup against Tennessee in our eyes, so a recommendation that the visitors win seems sensible. For Las Vegas, a convincing win, which comes about mainly thanks to the quarterback and the strong receivers, is absolutely conceivable.
The Las Vegas offence has been convincing for the most part so far and that’s why we’re also picking the prediction that the Nevada franchise will put at least 24 points on the scoreboard in the Titans vs Raiders clash.
