Preview: Tennessee Titans vs Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars are going to have their hands full when they face off against the Tennessee Titans. Both teams have won 3 of their five games and both feel confident. The two AFC South teams will clash for the first time on Monday.
“It should be an exciting week for us,” Titans coach Jeff Fisher said. He said that the Jaguars were a tough team and that EverBank field is a tough place to play. The teams are almost evenly matched. Their offensive and defensive statistics are almost identical.
Both teams have the ability to stop the rushing game and struggle a bit against the pass.
The Titans’ running is ranked sixth in the lead while the Jaguars stand at 4th place. In terms of stopping the pass the Jaguars are 29th while the Titans are 27th.
The Titans have lately been doing better though. Currently the Titans are leading the league with 22 sacks. They haven’t had this many sacks in their first five games since 1979 and it’s not just one player who is making the plays. The entire defence is
at it. 9 different players have had at least one sack in the past 5 games. They are gunning for the quarterbacks. In just the last two games they have had 12 sacks. That is something that should really worry Jacksonville.
The Jaguars may not be worried but they are certainly looking at the situation closely. Running back Maurice Jones-Drew said that stopping the sack would be their biggest challenge. He said that Tennessee has been able to make the sacks rushing just four.
“So, they’re getting pressure with four guys and having seven back to cover. So, that helps out a bunch. I think that will be our toughest task”.
The Titans aren’t taking it easy either. “This group is going to be a big challenge for us because they max protect, they get rid of the ball, they have a mobile quarterback and a dangerous back out of the backfield in the screen and draw game”, Coach Fisher
said.
The last time the Titans were in Jacksonville, they didn’t do all too well and the Jaguars would be trying to get those same results again. “I think we have the correct makeup, the right attitude”, Jaguars tight end Marcedes Lewis said. “We expect to win
every game”.
The interesting thing about the Titans and the Jaguars facing off is that neither team can really exploit the others weakness. They have virtually the same weaknesses and strengths. “We’re gearing up for what we believe will be a physical confrontation”,
Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio said. “We want to keep our quarterback in rhythm. It’ll be a challenge going up against their front”.
Some have accused the Titans of playing dirty. Del Rio at least is not one of those people. He said that the Titans played with a little ‘chippiness’ but he wasn’t bothered by it.
The two sides have been division rivals for 15 years and the first game of their 16th year of rivalry is without a doubt going to be hotly contested. Historically the Titans have had the upper hand over the Jaguars. Over the past 15 years the
Titans lead with 18 leads against Jaguars 13. The sole postseason game the two sides played against each other ended 33-14 for the Titans.
Where the Titans’ defence has seen improvement, the Jaguars offensive production has jumped up a notch. In their first 3 games the Jaguars had 40 points, in their last two, they raked in 67. No surprise then that the Jaguars started their season 1-2 and
went up to 3-2 after the offense started producing.
Jaguars quarterback David Garrard is coming off two weeks of excellent performances. The Jaguars know that the Titans would focus on the running and the Jaguars have to take that away from them if they want to win.
Tags: