Titans At Jaguars Bigger Than It Should Be

To say that the second game of a season is a must win would be hyperbole. An exaggeration. A stretch at the least. It would also be kind of true.

Last year the Jacksonville Jaguars were supposed to be the darlings of the NFL and be the upstarts that took over the AFC South. They won the draft championship and Blake Bortles was ready to take the next step to being a franchise quarterback.

This year, it’s the Titans that carried the same off season moniker.

Instead of making the leap to solid franchise quarterback, Bortles instead leaped into a quarterback controversy during the preseason as well as a handful of internet memes. On the heels of this, most Titans fans and media alike have counted the Jaguars as non factor.

Of course, this is why they play the games.

After losing their home opener to the Raiders, the Titans now travel to division rival Jacksonville this Sunday. The Colts were destroyed by the Rams last week and in all likely hood will be 0-2 after facing the Cardinals this week. The Jaguars made the Texans look like a JV team, handing them their first loss, who have already made the switch to DeShaun Watson. The Texans also travel on a short week with an armful of injuries and a PED suspension. So let’s ear mark them at 0-2 as well.

If the Titans can’t take care of business on Sunday the Jacksonville Jaguars could very well be looking at 2-0 lead in the division with the rest of the group at 0-2. Both of those wins over division opponents. Not to mention the Titans return home to play a very good Seattle Seahawks team the following week.

If the division is truly wide open, then the Titans need to make a statement this weekend. A potential 0-3 start, combined with handing a division opponent a stranglehold on the AFC South, could be too big of a hole to climb out of.