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When you think about it, the Titans might just be the NFL’s most surprising 2-1 team — at least when you look at the odds from each of their first three games. Tennessee closed as underdogs against the Dolphins, Texans and Jaguars, mainly due to a rash of injuries.
The Titans pulled the on Sunday in Jacksonville, despite being close to ten point underdogs. A banged up Marcus Mariota found a way to get the job done, despite having limited feeling in his fingers on his throwing hand.
Everything points to Mariota getting the go this weekend, even though he may not be 100 percent ready to go. Backup quarterback Blaine Gabbert suffered a concussion early on against the Jaguars, forcing Mariota into action. With his status in question, Mike Vrabel doesn’t have much of a choice other than playing Mariota. And just judging from the results on Sunday, a banged up Mariota is still the team’s best option right now.
His task this week is to find a way to beat the defending Super Bowl champs. The Philadelphia Eagles are coming to town this weekend, fresh off a win over the Colts. Indianapolis kept it competitive on Sunday, taking the Eagles down to the wire.
Last weekend marked the return of Carson Wentz for the Eagles. It was his first action since tearing his ACL last season, which derailed an MVP caliber season. The return of Wentz was a big deal for the Eagles, but they’re far from healthy. Jay Ajayi, Darren Sproles and Alshon Jeffery have all missed time so far this year, handicapping one of the NFL’s best offenses to this point.
Even through all of that uncertainty, oddsmakers have placed the Eagles as a 3.5 point favorite for Sunday’s game against the Titans. The game total has been set at 41 points.
We’ve spent a lot of time talking about the mismatches and players missing for the Titans so far this year. Turns out, it hasn’t mattered. The defense has played at a pretty high level over the past two weeks and Matt LaFleur’s offense has done just enough with limited firepower to come out on top.
With Marcus Mariota and Jack Conklin showing signs of improvement, this offense is finally getting healthy again. With question marks on the Eagles’ side lingering too, I’d probably have to roll with the Titans getting 3.5 points at home.