Titans Favored, but Oakland Like Their Chances in Week 1
Who: Oakland Raiders v. Tennessee Titans
When: Sunday September 10th, 2017 1:00PM EST
Where: LP Field—Nashville, Tennessee
The Titans and Raiders both have star, young quarterbacks that seem to be on the verge of really breaking through in the NFL. Unfortunately, both teams saw their respective quarterbacks break the same exact bone on the same exact day, December 24th of last year. For the Titans, Marcus Mariota breaking his ankle meant not only that they lost their Christmas Eve game at the hands of one of the NFL’s worst teams, it also meant that they would be eliminated from post-season eligibility. Even though they ended up beating the playoff-bound Texans the next week, their fate was already decided.
Heading into the 2017/18 campaign, there are some pretty high expectations for the Titans. Being that the AFC South seems to have gotten even worse from last season to this season, the spotlight is placed firmly on Tennessee. Admittedly, the Titans do, on paper, look to be a solid team, at least on the offensive side of the ball. With that being said, there are some question marks lingering over their defense, and after their dismal, winless pre-season, there are plenty of doubts that sit right alongside the Titans’ 2017/18 expectations.
As for the Raiders, they ended up advancing to the playoffs despite Derek Carr’s December 24th injury, but were eliminated at the hands of the Texans. They, like the Titans, have big expectations laid out in front of them this year. Unlike the Titans, the Raiders seem fully equipped to live up to those expectations. With a strong defense and even stronger offense, the Raiders are going to travel to LP Field full of confidence and ability.
Game Overview and Analysis
When the -1.5 (-130) Tennessee Titans (-145) take the field on Sunday, they will enter the game as slight favorites. Right off the bat, I think the biggest and most interesting matchup is that of the Titans’ defense against the run game of the Oakland Raiders. In case you did not know, the Raiders acquired former Seattle Seahawks standout Marshawn Lynch, who recently came out of retirement. Despite his having taken a year off, analysts everywhere are confident that Lynch can be as much of a beast now as he was throughout the entirety of his NFL career. Unfortunately for him and the Raider offense, however, the Titans’ had the 2nd-best run defense in all of the NFL last year.
The Titans have faced off against the +1.5 (+110) Raiders (+125) in each of the last 2 seasons, and each of those matchups have resulted in close losses for the Titans. In 2015, the Raiders skated by Tennessee by a final score of 24-21, while last season an untimely personal foul ruined the Titans’ chances of scoring a game-tying touchdown in the dying minutes. The final score in last year’s encounter was 17-10 in favor of the Raiders. This year, the point spread shows you that just about everyone expects this to be another close encounter.
My big concern for the Titans is the state of their preseason. They did not win a single preseason game, and though this is not a big deal in and of itself, they made matters worse by looking like a very bad team in each of those losses. Of course, starters like Mariota saw very limited action, but the preseason performance by Tennessee, if nothing else, does not bode well for them heading into the first weekend of action. Whether that actually ends up affecting them or not will be plainly visible the first time Tennessee touches the ball.
In all reality, these 2 sides match up against each other quite well. Both have great quarterbacks but shoddy pass defenses, and both teams have solid running games with solid run defenses. By all accounts, this is going to be one of the more exciting opening Sunday matchups.
Betting Prediction
As far as a moneyline bet is concerned, I like the Raiders’ (+125) odds as offered by Bovada. In my opinion, LP Field is not the toughest place to play, and after the Titans stumbled their way through the preseason, I am not very confident they will come out of the gates at a torrid pace.
As for the point spread, I think there is value in a bet on the +1.5 (+110) Raiders, but this is not a pick I am overly confident in. As was mentioned before, these games always tend to be close, so the point spread, in my opinion, offers less value than the straight-up, +125 moneyline odds.
As for the over/under, Bovada currently lists it at 50.5 points (-110/-110). Despite the fact that this is a rather high total, I think a bet on the over(-110) will be a solid one. As you already know, both of these quarterbacks are more than capable of lighting up the scoreboard. I think that is exactly what will happen, and I think a lot of points will be scored.